Chit Chat with Openmoko’s Team

Member Name :Ole Tange

Conversation by Email

But to Ship the device we’ve to answer some of the questions of our chancellor and in that perhaps you can help us?

First you need to realize that the Neo Freerunner is a pocket computer
running GNU/Linux that you can make phone calls from. If you think of
it this way a lot of questions are answered, as the answer is the same
for any GNU/Linux computer.

Q: Why someone go for openmoko’s device though there exists alot more with great reputation and market share?

Part of this question is about software: Why would you use GNU/Linux
when you have other options? I trust you can answer that yourself.

Another part of the question is about hardware: Why would you buy
hardware that is fully documented when you can get hardware that is
not fully documented but has a great reputation? If you have ever
bought a device that was unsupported by GNU/Linux I trust you can
answer that as well.

Q: iPhones SDK is there Google Androide is there so what’s different openmoko is offering?

I have the source code for OpenMoko. I do not have it for Google
Android. If I had it for Google Android, I could probably compile it
and run it on a GNU/Linux computer such as the Neo Freerunner.

Q: Ok the hardware is open So could we make changes in it? Can we add other chips in it like RFID, WiMAX?

Using USB: Yes.

By soldering it to the motherboard: Probably not.

Q: Could openmoko’s hardware support other SDK to run on it?

Again you need to think of the Neo Freerunner as a computer running
GNU/Linux. Would a computer running GNU/Linux be able to support
different SDKs?

Q: Is playing around the hardware is similar like around the FPGAs?

No. It is similar to playing around the hardware in a laptop computer.
You can connect your FPGA using USB.

Q: Is there any market value for that geek who has good expertises on this device?

We see a trend of embedded computers becoming more and more important.
As the hardware becomes cheaper it will in time be feasible to include
a GNU/Linux computer in any device. Today we already see GNU/Linux in
wireless access points costing less than 50 EUR. If we assume that in
the future it will cost very little to include a GNU/Linux computer in
a device, I would expect the demand for programmers of such computers
to rise and the market value rise with it.