[AceJohnny2]

> The cost is in the latter, the former is just abuse of position for power over the end user.

Exactly, hence my question about "student projects" which is really about why aren't there more OSS projects that challenge this. Is it because of the lack of platforms to experiment on, or the inherent difficulty of the task?

[seanp2k2]

Thinking about this, yeah it'd be amazing to e.g. Have a community-driven forum with some DIY CPU designs (lisp machines!) with an affordable (let's say under $1k per chip) way to get them made. We'll probably get there eventually, but I'm not aware of where progress on this front is.