Ok, so here is the official announcement of the MPC8610 Open Source Hardware Bounty!!!

The Market research for new PowerPC system didn't prove as fruitful as originally hoped, but it generated a lot of interest all around. This inspired Power2People to create a bounty to help the design and production of the board!

So, I'm glad to announce the "Open Source Hardware Bounty"! More details on the bounty can be found on the Power2People site (scroll down to the open bounties and check the design steps). Genesi fully supports this effort as it is close to the spirit of their successful Pegasos systems.

So what is so special about this project?

ALL GENERATED MATERIAL WILL BE OPEN SOURCED! That is, schematics (PDF/Protel), PCB design (Gerber files), Bill of materials, etc. The license chosen is one suited well for similar hardware projects, and close to the spirit of GPL, the TAPR Open Hardware License. This means, after the design is finished, ANYONE can use the design to build a product based on it and sell it with no extra requirements. Also, the good thing about the license chosen is that it ensures there can be no patent claims from one board producer to another.

Software bounties will also be started in association to this bounty.

I want you people to know that I'm looking at this project very seriously, to prove this I already have donated 1000EUR to the first bounty, and I don't intend to stop there.

Discussion relevant to the development of the board will take place in this forum, but feel free to ask anything related here or by mail.

I am in the process of posting this everywhere relevant and possible!

now that we have a dedicated thread, two things:

1. i see you guys have alreay been busy on that, but it needs stressing: let's all make sure this bounty gets as much publicity as possible. osnews.com?

2. i, and i guess others too, would like to have an alternative to paypal as a means of money transfer. google ckeckout? by-mail check? credit card? just don't leave paypal as a sole means there.

rejected. and also mailed them to ask why. Same on slashdot. I guess ppc is just not popular, anymore.

I'll leave the payment thing to bbrv.

Jesus! Well, I guess that the problem is that it would be a news item about collecting money, and there have been enough scams already about similar matters. But it's a pity.
If you had separated the money subject (how?) from the technical subject, perhaps you would have reached those popular news sites.

Perhaps, I didn't think about that, but I don't think I'll have more chances if I resubmit the story now.

I think, you get more chances once at least "Step 1" is completed, and there is a specification and detailed concepts to show. Also a list of expected operating systems could help, especially with OSnews :-) It will take some time to complete it, so I think, it will be considered as a completely new news entry.

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CzP
http://czanik.blogs.balabit.com/

We secured a complete design schematic and BOM from an existing reference board. We will be working from these materials to see if we can streamline the development process a bit. We also received a commitment for a contribution to the overall project:

http://bbrv.blogspot.com/2009/12/powering-ahead.html

R&B :)

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http://bbrv.blogspot.com

Wow, great news! openSUSE 11.0 and 11.1 run nicely on the mpc8610, and once "factory" is in a better shape, that will too :)

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CzP
http://czanik.blogs.balabit.com/

Wow good news . I like it :)
I also sent today a few euros for 8610 bounty

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Past: Pegasos II G4 & Efika
Now : Mac Mini G4 1.5 Ghz & MorphOS 3.1
BlaBla Team Member -> http://blabla.ppa.pl

This is Fantastic news!!! The project is moving faster than I hoped! I knew this was going to happen soon!

If I would like to make a donation, not by using the button on the web page, but by sending money to an e-mail address, what e-mail address should I use?

Hi Stefan, you can use bbrv@power2people.org. Thanks!

R&B :)

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http://bbrv.blogspot.com

Then you've got mail! :-)

That is great Stefan. You sent 100 Euros and Martin Krastev sent $100 Canadian. It all adds up!

R&B :)

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http://bbrv.blogspot.com

Hi Bill,
Yes, this is Fantastic new to moving this good project!
If we (Pegasos-suisse.com) would like to make a donation, wat is the best solution to send money without fees?

XRAY