Hello everyone,

I’ve been wondering, why has no one built an entirely free (as in freedom) computer yet? For humans to be unable to share each other’s knowledge to build one of the most important technologies ever created for society, how is it that we have yet to have full knowledge about how our systems operate?

I get that companies are basically the ones to blame, and I know there are alternatives like the Talos II by Raptor Computing, but still, how do we not have publicly available full schematics for just one modern computer? I’m talking down to firmware-level stuff like proprietary ECs, microcode, hard drive/SSD firmware, network controllers, etc. How do we not have a fully open system yet?

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8 points

You can wire up a computer like people did in the eighties. Beep beep boop boop.

Designing modern cpus is crazy complicated and expensive.

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4 points

Manufacturing is also crazy expensive. You need millions worth of machines and an industrial clean room.

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-6 points

@pearsaltchocolatebar @Valmond looooook we can build stuff… all the goods may be “owned” by the finance capitalists but theyre operated only by… who? THE WORKING CLASS baby. Never forget. we hold the keys to our freedom

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8 points

There is absolutely no system of government or economics that would make it feasible to manufacture microchips in your garage.

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