Preliminary Specifications Revised For The Talos Secure Workstation

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Preliminary Specifications Revised For The Talos Secure Workstation

For those interested in the Talos Workstation libre system, the preliminary specifications have been revised...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Talos-Workstation-Specs

[duby229]

Well, I think it's cool. For people that want firmware they can trust on a modern CPU platform, it seems like just the right thing. But the specs have some strangeness. RS232 ports? Really? If you need those types of ports, then it's most likely you could get away with using an old Pentuim 2 or so. Not exactly something targeted at a modern desktop. I guess it just goes to show the heritage of the platform. Since it never got long term widespread adoption, the platform designers have obviously struggled to come to terms with what a modern desktop needs.

EDIT: Honestly, I wouldn't change the price too much. Those people that are going to buy it, will buy it because of their needs. That 100 bucks isn't going to change many peoples buying decisions. Your just losing out on a 100 bucks per sale is all.

[bug77]

Oh good. For a moment I was afraid the article would actually highlight the updates. But we're safe.

[Serafean]

Well, I think it's cool. For people that want firmware they can trust on a modern CPU platform, it seems like just the right thing. But the specs have some strangeness. RS232 ports? Really? If you need those types of ports, then it's most likely you could get away with using an old Pentuim 2 or so. Not exactly something targeted at a modern desktop. I guess it just goes to show the heritage of the platform.

Wrong : RS232 is essential for hardware development, and many people I know go through a lot of trouble to find a good quality USB-RS232 converter. (or to output pins from the MB).

[duby229]

Wrong : RS232 is essential for hardware development, and many people I know go through a lot of trouble to find a good quality USB-RS232 converter. (or to output pins from the MB).

That's fair I'm sure. The last time I seen those types of ports being used was an ancient print farm I replaced. Just because I haven't seen them for so long doesn't mean there isn't still uses for them I guess.

[bug77]

Wrong : RS232 is essential for hardware development, and many people I know go through a lot of trouble to find a good quality USB-RS232 converter. (or to output pins from the MB).

I think he also mistakes RS232 (the communication protocol) with the port on the old PCs that would talk RS232. An honest mistake imho

[duby229]

I think he also mistakes RS232 (the communication protocol) with the port on the old PCs that would talk RS232. An honest mistake imho

Yeah, I took a bit of time to read some about it, there are still lots of chipsets that use rs232 pinouts. Nowadays it seems mostly useful hacking chipsets. In which case a modern computer will be a major benefit. I was definitely wrong. I should have read up on it before I commented.

[MaxToTheMax]

IIs there a big-endian mode? As a C programmer, a big-endian workstation would be helpful as a way to shake out endianness-related bugs in my code.

[pal666]

someone should tell them that hdmi is consumer electronics display interface, current computer display interface is displayport

[jhenke]

IIs there a big-endian mode? As a C programmer, a big-endian workstation would be helpful as a way to shake out endianness-related bugs in my code.

POWER8 supports both. You can either run a big endian or a little endian OS on it.