[coreboot] Documentation creation for the coreboot wiki - what to do?

[Timothy Pearson]

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On 01/29/2017 01:28 PM, Marshall Dawson wrote:
> I agree with Martin's assessment.  I'll elaborate that the suppliers are
> simply delivering what their revenue generators ask for.  Those are
> overwhelmingly ODMs and OEMs who demand that solutions be provided to
> them, not Swiss Army knives or DIY kits.  That's why suppliers design
> software that runs on MEs, IMCs, PSPs, sideband controllers, etc. 
> Customers rarely care about what a product could do; they want to know
> what it does.

I'll also add that there is are actually two markets for people that
care about building something to execute a task that the OEM didn't know
about.  The problem is you're really looking at very low end (embedded,
where the processor is not the primary solution, only part of the
overall system) and very high end (where a good chunk of your trade
secrets may revolve around how you're using the machine and what you
quietly stuck onto it without the OEM's knowledge).

There is absolutely no reason for anyone to use mid range computing
systems in these type of roles.  This primarily is a factor of cost; on
the embedded side you can't justify using a more powerful / complex
processor with more to go wrong than what you actually need, and on the
high end the investment in developing the secret IP dwarfs the cost of
the machines themselves.  Therefore, I assert that market forces dictate
libre firmware (and possibly certain classes of libre software) will not
be available for mid range general purpose computing systems barring a
massive shift in semiconductor manufacturing.

The only argument one could theoretically make is security, but again
this applies moreso to large organizations that are going to be using
very specific types of machines and are going to be willing to pay more
for the secure computers.  There is no benefit to an average Joe
(Windows user, uploads all their data to Facebook, likes to torrent
movies and games, etc.) to have their firmware secured.  When something
goes wrong enough that they can't use their PC, they'll just wipe,
reload, and continue on.  Even if an APT embedded itself in their
firmware they won't be aware of it or experience any sensible financial
loss from the situation -- just look at the IoT hack last year for a
good example.  Did any of the "owners" of the hacked IoT devices receive
a fine for their role, or lose access to the device?  No.  So why would
average Joe care one bit about security, and why would the OEMs creating
hardware for average Joe pay more for securable systems?

I hate to say it, but libre software is now the domain of those who just
want to connect to cloud services or retrocompute, and those
organizations with large enough budgets and valuable enough IP to
justify the extra cost.  It's not a matter of the OEMs being evil, it's
a matter of the market adjusting to meet the demands of the 95% at the
expense of the 5%, even if the 5% were heavily contributing to society
as a whole.

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