[HN Gopher] Pine64 March Update: Status Report
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Pine64 March Update: Status Report
Author : mfsch
Score : 46 points
Date : 2021-03-15 22:05 UTC (54 minutes ago)
(HTM) web link (www.pine64.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.pine64.org)
| throwawaysea wrote:
| Very cool to see their community update video is also available
| on LBRY (https://lbry.tv) and PeerTube
| (https://joinpeertube.org/).
| royletron wrote:
| I always wonder when I read these, wouldn't it be easier to focus
| on one project? It seems they've gone to town! Laptops, watches,
| phones!
| stormqloud wrote:
| I'm still trying to understand why they sell a soldering iron
| with a cpu and os.
| megous wrote:
| I like that it's small and I can just plug it to USB-C
| charger that's on my table. I also have a bigger soldering
| station, but it takes valuable space on the table.
|
| For quick soldering jobs it's faster to just use pinecil,
| instead of setting up soldering station on the table.
|
| I don't care much for electronic control. Apparently it has a
| bunch of features, but I don't use any of those.
| royletron wrote:
| Yes this
| pta2002 wrote:
| I have the soldering iron that is based off, the TS100, and
| it's really useful. The CPU lets you regulate temperature,
| and it has features like lowering the temperature when you
| don't move it for a bit. That's what the CPU is there for,
| it's really just a microcontroller. Good luck making a
| (minimally decent) soldering iron without one for temperature
| control.
| stormqloud wrote:
| My soldering iron is like 30 years old and has 1 to 10
| dial. Works great the few times I use it.
| makomk wrote:
| There are some cheap DC-powered soldering irons in a
| similar form factor which use a dial and potentiometer to
| set the temperature and an op-amp for temperature
| regulation. No processor in sight. Apparently they work
| reasonably well.
| nmaggioni wrote:
| Lower the temperature or turn off when not moved for some
| time, better temperature control via PIDs, set a voltage
| cutoff when running off battery packs...
|
| https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS#key-features
| outworlder wrote:
| OS is a misnomer. It doesn't have an OS, just firmware.
| ios14 wrote:
| Besides being open source and not connected to big tech, and
| besides being designed/built with privacy in mind, what
| fundamental advantages does a project like Pine offer over
| aapl/goog's efforts, from a hardware/software design perspective,
| in terms of infosec? Apologies for the simplistic inquiry.
|
| The reason for asking is that goog/aapl have had generations of
| highly paid talent trudging through a security nightmare and are
| presumably generations ahead of what is even feasible for non-big
| tech interests.
| Mediterraneo10 wrote:
| I'm really looking forward to the PinePhone keyboard. Except for
| web-browsing, I use Emacs for almost everything else, so just
| give me a way to conveniently use Emacs on the PinePhone like I
| used to on the Nokia N900 and I can almost excuse all the
| PinePhone's other flaws (e.g. a weak processor resembling a low-
| end Android phone from 2014, and a hard limit of 3GB of RAM on
| that processor).
|
| However, though the hardware seems to be progressing well, I
| worry about the software side, both developing for the phone and
| using the phone enough to produce good bug reports. Is it just
| me, or is there much less community activity around the PinePhone
| than there was around the Nokia N900?
| geerlingguy wrote:
| Regarding component shortages:
|
| 'Quoting the words of a factory head we work with: "I haven't
| seen anything like this in the 15 years that I've been in the
| business."'
|
| When will we get back to a status quo, or is "2+ years unless
| you're a multi-billion-dollar company" the new status quo for
| sourcing things now?
| cogman10 wrote:
| Unless something significant changes, I think 2+ years is
| looking a lot more like the status quo.
|
| The problem is that fabrication plants are hella expensive to
| tool. That's why there are so few companies worldwide that can
| participate.
| simonbarker87 wrote:
| I remember starting to have trouble placing seasonal orders
| for dc power supplies 4 years ago - this isn't going away
| anytime soon. There is an opportunity here for someone/some
| group with deeeeeep pockets and some vision. Unlike a risky
| biotech, you know the tech is good and the market is there,
| this is a supply problem (all the way down to mining).
| chubs wrote:
| I wonder if this could be the thing that drives on-shoring in
| the west.
| mbreese wrote:
| We've been hearing about Chip shortages for awhile now, but
| this was the first first-party explanation I've seen. I think
| these monthly updates really helps to add some inside
| perspective on hardware manufacturing. Even if you don't buy
| Pine64 products, these are super interesting to read.
| jay_kyburz wrote:
| Just wait to the cold war with China really gets started and
| you can't buy anything from there at all!
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