Thanks maddog for staying on this over the past month or so. I really appreciate<div>the effort and I know the rest of the community does as well. As you know I'm unwilling</div><div>to give up on the dream of the Freerunner and the dream of community driven hardware</div>
<div>in general. I know Werner and his group, the GTA02 core team, is dedicated as well</div><div>to this dream. Let me know how I can help.</div><div><br></div><div>Steve</div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 9:03 PM, Jon 'maddog' Hall <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:maddog@li.org">maddog@li.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">Dear Openmoko Community,<br>
<br>
In light of the refocusing of Sean's company on consumer items, there<br>
has been a perceived vacuum created in the Openmoko community's efforts<br>
to create next-generation open cellular smart phones.<br>
<br>
I happened to be working with Dr. Marcelo Zuffo, a full professor and<br>
the head of the Laboratory for Integrated Systems at the University of<br>
São Paulo, Brazil, on an unrelated project. I asked Dr. Zuffo if the<br>
university would be willing to join the Openmoko community and to<br>
provide critical resources to the task at hand.<br>
<br>
I subsequently have met with Dr. Zuffo several times on this matter,<br>
have seen his facilities (which include a very modern and<br>
state-of-the-art SMT line) and have discussed the goals of the community<br>
to design and prototype a completely open design for a cellular phone.<br>
Dr. Zuffo and the university understand your issues, understand free and<br>
open source software and hardware and are willing to assist the<br>
community with this project.<br>
<br>
I might add that the university can bring several new capabilities to<br>
the community:<br>
<br>
First of all, Dr. Zuffo has discussed the Openmoko project with the<br>
Minister of Telecommunications of Brazil, and the Minister is very<br>
enthusiastic about the concept. Having the support of the government of<br>
the twelfth largest economy behind the project might really help us with<br>
various negotiations with vendors.<br>
<br>
Secondly the University has been working on several aspects of<br>
telecommunications for a long time, and therefore has expertise in<br>
telephonic security and codecs (among other things) that could be of use<br>
to the Openmoko community.<br>
<br>
Third, the university has the ability and expertise to design new<br>
integrated circuits. Recently they designed a a range of analog-digital<br>
chips. Therefore the possibility of developing, manufacturing and<br>
freely licensing new chips to help reduce the cost of the phone is<br>
possible.<br>
<br>
Forth, while the facilities I mentioned are capable of producing up to<br>
10,000 units at the rate of one circuit board every 30 seconds, the<br>
purpose of the facilities is research, developing and support projects<br>
that can lead innovation, the lab's charter does not allow them to<br>
manufacture more units then the 10,000 because that would be "commercial<br>
production". Therefore the university has a goal of freely licensing<br>
the design to companies for manufacture.<br>
<br>
Fifth, the university would be happy to host the mailing lists and<br>
forums of the Openmoko project. If some of the software projects need<br>
hosting and can not find hosting services other places, the university<br>
will consider acting as a primary hosting facility for these projects.<br>
<br>
Sixth, personally I would like to see this concept extended, of inviting<br>
more universities and their facilities to help with this project<br>
world-wide. I hope that the leadership of the University of Sao Paulo<br>
will help create the structure and inspiration for this to happen.<br>
<br>
Finally, the university has a non-profit legal entity, LSITEC, which can<br>
easily do the type of paperwork that Sean's company did (NDAs,<br>
certification) so the community can leverage off that.<br>
<br>
I know that there will be a lot of questions and considerations to take<br>
before the community is comfortable with this relationship. Dr. Zuffo<br>
has asked that I help coordinate the joining together of the university<br>
with the community, and in the interest of seeing Openmoko continue to<br>
do the fine work started by Sean and all of you, I will be glad to help<br>
in this capacity. I am monitoring the community mailing list, and<br>
people are also welcome to email me directly (<a href="mailto:maddog@li.org">maddog@li.org</a>) with<br>
questions that you do not (for any reason) wish to post to the list.<br>
<br>
Dr. Zuffo's letter of intent is below.<br>
<br>
Warmest regards,<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
Jon "maddog" Hall<br>
President, Linux International<br>
CTO of Koolu, Inc.<br>
</font></blockquote></div><br></div>