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Date:      Tue, 4 Oct 2011 20:00:16 +0200
From:      kaltheat <kaltheat@googlemail.com>
To:        freebsd-doc@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: hardware Rosetta Stone?
Message-ID:  <CAB-vBDFpVKVia_ch=apuKKnNXKoeXt7ML9Xr=CFMyn3cnmM5Tw@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <CA%2BE3k93BbveHC038DCM2w33TtK1EzsDdL1=tnEDTY6k=HxpKFw@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <CA%2BE3k93BbveHC038DCM2w33TtK1EzsDdL1=tnEDTY6k=HxpKFw@mail.gmail.com>

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On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 6:39 AM, Royce Williams
<royce.williams@gmail.com> wrote:
> The tl;dr version: Let's start documenting our implicit knowledge
> about hardware. =A0It will be significant force multiplier. =A0If we star=
t
> a stub on the wiki, it could become useful relatively quickly without
> a lot of effort.
>
> The long version:
>
> I've followed a few list threads that end with "Go talk to Vendor X
> about that." =A0Developers, vendors and hardware owners are all busy, so
> this can be hard. =A0Most hardware vendors don't have someone like
> Intel's Jack Vogel - competent, constructive, and paying close
> attention to the relevant freebsd-* lists. =A0Even if Jack misses a
> message, everyone else on the lists knows to say, "Hey, send that to
> Jack."
>
> I've also spent a lot of time painstakingly reconstructing knowledge
> from multiple forums in order to arrive at The Whole Truth about a
> specific piece of hardware. =A0Someone knows the answer off of the top
> of their head, but that person is busy frying bigger fish -- and they
> should be. =A0Caching the results of that work would be a high-leverage
> activity.
>
> I propose creating a hardware Rosetta Stone of sorts. =A0It would be
> sort of a cross between the Hardware Compatibility list, parts of
> Jeremy Chadwick's list of known issues, some FAQs, and a list of
> FreeBSD folks to coordinate between vendors and the project.
>
> As a quick start, I propose a wiki page that would contain something
> like these tuples:
>
> * Hardware family
> * Name of vendor
> * Brief advice on how to work with that vendor.
> * Identifying device info (PCI/USB IDs, etc.)
> * Links to significant PRs.
> * Link to a FAQ page/section for that hardware/drivers.
> * Name of coordinating volunteer(s)
>
> I'd bet that there are already some de facto vendor "ambassadors" of
> sorts who could seed parts of the initial list pretty quickly.
>
>
> Benefits:
>
> * Developers (who already get peppered with questions about given
> hardware) only have to answer a question once, and simply link to the
> Rosetta Stone thereafter.
>
> * Non-developers can take their hard-won research and put it where
> others can reliably find it.
>
> * Newbies spend less time chasing their tails and FAQing the lists.
>
> * Vendors get a consistent voice from, and more deliberately connect
> with, the FreeBSD community.
>
> * Developers who want to tackle a hardware family can easily survey
> the state thereof.
>
> * Vendors who are hard to connect with might be swayed by a large list
> of "this vendor won't work with us, but hey, their competitor is
> totally helpful" data points.
>
> * People could rotate through ambassadorship, to spread knowledge and
> prevent burnout.
>
> * Everyone gets to spend more time doing what matters.
>
>
> If I'm reinventing a wheel, any breadcrumbs appreciated.
>
> (I got this idea from a club I'm in that has a semi-official
> ambassador to eBay -- which has really benefited both eBay and the
> club -- and also thinking about Jack, and Jeremy's list).
>
> Royce

In my opinion this is a very nice idea.
I've found this site: http://laptop.bsdgroup.de/freebsd/ but it seems
to me as if it is specialized on laptops.
I would support this idea!

kaltheat



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