What is important about this...

The general assumption underlying existing copyright law is that copying takes special facilities. This notion has been invalidated by the "digital revolution." Copyright control was enforceable, now it is not. Understanding this please keep in mind that a PowerPC based mainboard is a transferable but not a retainable object vs. software which is both.

The free software (FS) market is innately technology-driven, not marketing- or sales- driven. The issue should orient to services not products (which ARE transferrable). For example, Larry Wall is the developer of Perl. Larry is employed by O'Reilly and Associates (ORA) to work on Perl, doing pretty much whatever he wants. ORA make money off this deal because they are the #1 publisher of Perl books, and having Larry in-house gives them a stupendous competitive edge in the Perl support market.

Our fundamental business plan orients on this concept.

Our focus is on offering a platform that can be manipulated in a variety of ways hand in hand with the OSS/FS movement. Proprietary closed source software will also work on the platform (it will take some time to have this model fade away and it will, but there is no reason in the meanwhile to stymie this "freedom" either). The ultimate goal is not JUST to show that all OSS/FS is "better" than all proprietary software. Certainly, there are many who believe this is true from ethical, moral, or social grounds. We do think users should have control and flexibility advantages so they can modify and maintain their own software, and some countries perceive political advantages to not depending on a company from another country, but that is not our axe to grind. Rather, we simply define a physical environment in the aspiration that "the best software will win." In this result, the other issues fall away as less significant.

What are the building blocks needed?

Stepping forward a few centuries after the first books, the telephone became pervasive as the network grew to support it. In this case the network is here and the end-user device can become pervasive if it can leverage the network uniquely -- better, faster, and more conveniently in doing what people do already. In many ways as the fax machine did.

To be successful we need to address the world as it is with an eye to the world as we want it to be.

Something from an earlier document we wrote:

People don't like "handcuffs." People won't change and they won't do well to accept too much Digital Rights Management control -- that is why technology needs to be focused on the experience and not the prevention of it. Help me videochat with my daughter and I will. In fact, the easier it is to copy music or video or whatever, the less of a problem piracy really is. When piracy gets easier, pirates will have less to offer or said another way -- all pirates will be fans. There are ways to make money from fans -- especially when you can offer a better/cooler/more convenient way to do what they do already (think to iPod success). How about an OPEN platform that leverages P2P video sharing and voice/video over IP? It is coming anyway. The solution to DRM is a choice made in the name of a better technology inspired ENTERTAINMENT solution and user agreement. Think entertainment not "songs" or "videos." Give developers tools to create new possibilities that will fuel the creativity to empower technology to meet the demand that won't go away.

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To support this notion we are developing with a virtual development environment (VDE)

First, a few screen shots (check dates, there have been many improvements since then) to assist in the explanation. The VDE would run on a similar driver as these emulators and the VDE we are developing is shown in the same kind of graphical window.

MacOS 9.x on Linux (on a Pegasos)

http://www.morphzone.org/modules/myalbu ... hp?lid=199

MacOS 10.x on Linux (on a Pegasos)

http://www.morphzone.org/modules/myalbu ... hp?lid=200

Windows 98 on MorphOS (on a Pegasos)

http://www.morphzone.org/modules/myalbu ... hp?lid=251

We see a "standardized development platform" with a VDE for a family of microcontrollers - a virtual engine (VE) for each target platform (which could also be done before silicon even existed). Imagine the same such graphic window on the ODW desktop. You drag an icon for the appropriate CPU/controller into a window. Next step compile the code you want to test by dragging it into the window and run it in the VDE.*

*We are assuming higher level code and not assembly. The first implementation of the VM would only be a PPC version, the assembly code that can be used here would be PPC code. The second VM will have a CPU core emulation too (for example, to use ColdFire code or any other non-PPC core).

You want to see the visual output? Drag the monitor icon into the window too (another screen pops up). I/O device drivers can also be tested and the devices themselves tested by dragging the appropriate icon into the virtual engine as well. The response from devices connected to the virtual engine (through the ODW) can be read through a terminal window also on the desktop (in case of a serial port a terminal window, a graphics window in case of an LCD controller, or a packet sniffer in case of a network device, etc...)

We think this ONE package for a host of controllers reduces time to market significantly and reduces developer/OEM cost, the cost of their customers dramatically by facilitating software and hardware development concurrently, AND more importantly from this perspective the opportunity for "nosoftwarepatents" development. Plus, there is the added benefit of having a resource friendly PowerPC environment to enhance the development environment. Time to market once hardware is in hand could be as fast as it takes to install and boot the machine.

This is leading us to define a hardware abstraction layer for the family of PPU/controllers. Software by its nature is always in flux. Hardware is something that evolves incrementally. We have focused on the CPU, because that is all that is left that is not a commodity, beyond the graphics card, which does not a system make. This is the concept of OPA. The Genesi connection is through the ODW and the OpenFirmware extensions we have developed.

Together with OSS/FS doesn't this create an unstoppable force?

http://www.genesi.lu/olp.php?slide=9

http://www.genesi.lu/olp.php?slide=10

http://www.genesi.lu/olp.php?slide=8

http://www.genesi.lu/olp.php?slide=11

More on how OPA is developing soon.

Sincerely,
Raquel and Bill