[coreboot] Fund a TALOS Secure Workstation as coreboot build system

[Timothy Pearson]

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On 01/17/2017 02:53 PM, Merlin Büge wrote:
> On Tue, 17 Jan 2017 14:24:16 -0600
> Timothy Pearson <tpearson at raptorengineering.com> wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> 
>> Regarding the BMC work, we're looking to enable a fully libre BMC on
>> the KGPE-D16.  This is a complex process involving significant reverse
>> engineering efforts, writing new kernel drivers for the BMC, etc.
>> With the BMC enabled, proper fan control can be established on the
>> KGPE-D16, in addition to remote console access and of course remote
>> power on / power off / reset functionality.
>>
>> If this work can be funded, Raptor would chip in a matching amount to
>> lower the costs to the community; essentially we're looking to fund
>> half of the work internally but cannot justify the full cost of the
>> work as the sole sponsor.  Every little bit helps, so even if you can
>> only chip in $100 please consider doing so.
> 
> Do you think running a crowdfunding campaign again would help getting
> this funded / collecting donations? I don't know if you have to pay any
> fees for the various platforms out there, but I bet there are some for
> which you don't have to pay much.
> 
> I'm not thinking of a campaign like the Talos one, I just think it
> would be useful to keep track on how many people already donated, and
> how much is still missing to meet the goal. With 'useful' I
> mean it'd probably boost donations, in contrast to accepting donations
> quietly. So no big updates etc., just using their infrastructure for
> collecting donations. But after all, I've no idea about R&D etc. :P
> 
> If this is not too straight forward, may I ask of how much of
> community support you are thinking?
> 
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Merlin

Given our past experience with crowdfunding I would rather this be
handled by the community itself; this allows the funds to go straight to
the work instead of partially being used to pay for the platform and
advertising costs.

We would like to see $20k USD from the community; we'll match (and
actually slightly exceed) that internally to get the port completed and
production qualified.  From what I understand this amount is very close
to what had been allocated originally for a Talos coreboot build server;
the BMC work would allow more KGPE-D16 systems to be used to host pieces
of coreboot worldwide.

As an added bonus, the BMC work would be directly applicable to the
KGPE-D16's little sister, the KCMA-D8.  The same (or slightly modified)
BMC firmware should work on both machines.

Thanks!

- -- 
Timothy Pearson
Raptor Engineering
+1 (415) 727-8645 (direct line)
+1 (512) 690-0200 (switchboard)
https://www.raptorengineering.com
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