Let's say the "Death of the PC" really happens. Nobody but certified companies can make x86/64 hardware because it probably has patents and other restrictions, so that's out of the question for some random person to make.
What would it take to actually create a completely custom 64 bit computer architecture that is open source, so anyone can design parts based on it, and Linux and other OSes could easily have versions for it.
Basically, some group of very knowledgeable hackers would actually step in to pilot such a project so people like us can have access to modular PCs. Think of projects like Raspberry Pi ad Arduino, but much larger scale. The neat thing would be to make the entire thing open source, and very modular. Instead of having a billion different kind of slots, sockets and other interfaces that seem to change every couple years, this architecture would be built with modularity in mind, and it would never change. Want to upgrade a processor? No problem, you can still put a newer one on your 10 year old motherboard. The motherboard would basically be a large bus with a whole bunch of identical slots. Think of it almost like a switch. Every part would be a card that goes in. For it to boot up it would require at least one of specific types of cards obviously (processor and ram I guess, anything else being optional, but obviously there would probably be at least one phepherial card that has USB ports and VGA ports on it). Of course, there would even be some processor cards that have ram built in perhaps some cards that have everything built in so you just need one, the options would be endless because of the modularity. Heck, you want a very powerful system? Load it up with 10 processor cards. You'd also be able to get cards that already have more than one processor. The only limit would be the bandwidth that the motherboard bus provides. Oh and power? That would be a card too. Some would perhaps attach via some ribbon to a cage, for hot swap PSUs. Same with storage.
Cheaper motherboards would have slower buses, more expensive ones would have faster, but they'd all work with everything. Think of it like an ethernet switch. You can plug a new gigabit device in a 10/100 switch but it wont be as fast, but it will still work. Same idea here.
It's too bad technology is driven by nothing but money, because something like this would be so awesome. Complete 100% modularity based system, and anybody can make hardware for it.
I'm not actually thinking of doing this, it's WAY beyond my knowledge, just something I was thinking about, that would be neat. I'm doing some DMS training and everything is modular and is basically card based, and it made me think of how neat it would be to see a PC platform like this.
What would it take to actually create a completely custom 64 bit computer architecture that is open source, so anyone can design parts based on it, and Linux and other OSes could easily have versions for it.
Basically, some group of very knowledgeable hackers would actually step in to pilot such a project so people like us can have access to modular PCs. Think of projects like Raspberry Pi ad Arduino, but much larger scale. The neat thing would be to make the entire thing open source, and very modular. Instead of having a billion different kind of slots, sockets and other interfaces that seem to change every couple years, this architecture would be built with modularity in mind, and it would never change. Want to upgrade a processor? No problem, you can still put a newer one on your 10 year old motherboard. The motherboard would basically be a large bus with a whole bunch of identical slots. Think of it almost like a switch. Every part would be a card that goes in. For it to boot up it would require at least one of specific types of cards obviously (processor and ram I guess, anything else being optional, but obviously there would probably be at least one phepherial card that has USB ports and VGA ports on it). Of course, there would even be some processor cards that have ram built in perhaps some cards that have everything built in so you just need one, the options would be endless because of the modularity. Heck, you want a very powerful system? Load it up with 10 processor cards. You'd also be able to get cards that already have more than one processor. The only limit would be the bandwidth that the motherboard bus provides. Oh and power? That would be a card too. Some would perhaps attach via some ribbon to a cage, for hot swap PSUs. Same with storage.
Cheaper motherboards would have slower buses, more expensive ones would have faster, but they'd all work with everything. Think of it like an ethernet switch. You can plug a new gigabit device in a 10/100 switch but it wont be as fast, but it will still work. Same idea here.
It's too bad technology is driven by nothing but money, because something like this would be so awesome. Complete 100% modularity based system, and anybody can make hardware for it.
I'm not actually thinking of doing this, it's WAY beyond my knowledge, just something I was thinking about, that would be neat. I'm doing some DMS training and everything is modular and is basically card based, and it made me think of how neat it would be to see a PC platform like this.
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