Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!snorkelwacker!ai-lab!mikec
From: mikec@wheaties.ai.mit.edu (Mike E. Ciholas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.m68k
Subject: Re: 680X0 dream machine
Summary: let's do it!
Message-ID: <7835@wheat-chex.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 12 Apr 90 20:51:39 GMT
References: <105@motto.UUCP> <19620@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Reply-To: mikec@wheat-chex.ai.mit.edu (Mike E. Ciholas)
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Lines: 34

In article <19620@boulder.Colorado.EDU> rainer@boulder.Colorado.EDU (Rainer Malzbender) writes:
>The response about the Unix PC was appropriate, but having built several
>homebrew 68000 machines I for one would love to see a public-domain
>hardware project.
> [more stuff about i/o, display, etc.]
>			Free Hardware Foundation :-)
>Rainer M. Malzbender                           Just another Unix/C demagogue.
>Dept. of Physics            (303)492-6829         rainer@hibachi.colorado.edu 
>U. of Colorado, Boulder, USA                malzbender@opus.vaxf.colorado.edu

Sure, I've always thought that the electronics in a PC, Sun, or MAC were
dead simple (and very cheap for what you pay for it).  I a hardware type
(I hand layout 4 layer boards, for example) but I couldn't imagine
myself doing the system software (do I hear voices of those who could?).

I am willing to bash this idea around for awhile.  I'll offer my expertise
(ha!) on hardware (and I can get PCB made, also).  I'd be willing to 
layout someones design and sell the PCB for double cost (that would be
about $100 for an average PC 4 layer motherboard).  If we set our own
standard, and give it away (like unix, X, etc.), we can finally do it
right without all those silly no cost compromises that other companies
make.

I'd like to see a wide bus (32 bits), probably standardize on the 680x0
series (maybe 88000 support?).  Plug in cards for I/O, scsi, video, etc.

Okay people, let me hear from you.

Mike Ciholas

email:  mikec@ai.mit.edu
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