asciilifeform: 1g is probably not happening on 100 usd.
asciilifeform: ben_vulpes: what would you say is minimal ram for a 0.5.3 node bringup ?
asciilifeform: mircea_popescu: cheapest means of getting a unit with arbitrarily expandable storage is to pick one with usb lines
asciilifeform: Apocalyptic: if you like 'arm', there are a thousand boards to choose from.
asciilifeform: Apocalyptic: depends, for what purpose
asciilifeform: undata: they are all, as you would expect, rather threadbare.
asciilifeform: nubbins`: imho, the best machine would be one which is readily available off the shelf with chassis, power supply, etc. and not require carpentry
asciilifeform: undata: i have a number of them, for various experiments
asciilifeform: nubbins`: i have 'openbsd' on one of these. also a little sluggish, though not as dreadful as 'raspberry'
asciilifeform: mircea_popescu: do you have a favourite piece of hardware in mind? preferably one which you know to be readily available around the world.
asciilifeform: mircea_popescu: it would be quite simple to distribute a binary image that a monkey could pipe to usb flash and insert. for man, rather than monkey, one would prefer a 'thebitcoin.foundation'-style cookbook with signed configs/patches...
asciilifeform: (it was to concern the usg dept. of firmware-diddlers)
asciilifeform: pete_dushenski: glad you enjoyed the articles. i actually have a new one in the works, but - no time presently to finish it.
asciilifeform: mircea_popescu: i'm not certain, however, that 'edgerouter' would be the optimal candidate for the mega-cheap node. the device itself is around 100 usd, and a decently large flash drive is yet again a quarter of that.
asciilifeform: pete_dushenski: i generally don't write the kind of article that doesn't require at least a full day's concentration.
asciilifeform: pete_dushenski: it's true. largely on account of being very busy with actual work.
asciilifeform: mircea_popescu: near the end of that page there is a script for cross-compile to mips on a larger machine (e.g. x86)
asciilifeform: mircea_popescu: router... instructions << see this site: http://rtfm.net/FreeBSD/ERL >> the only modification is, take a larger usb flash drive, follow his gpart resize instructions.
asciilifeform: mircea_popescu: ... i have a coupla derps im paying via bitpay << lol!! srsly ? in usa, no less?
asciilifeform: jurov: to pose the question of 'hardware diddlery' for a machine in one's kitchen, can be called superstition; to pose the same question re: xxx thousand physically identical bitcoin nodes airdropped over enemy country, is stark rationality.
asciilifeform: kakobrekla: i was sorta assuming that mircea was posing the problem of whether a node could be optimized for 1) minimal cost 2) physical compactness in that order, perhaps to be airdropped behind enemy lines
asciilifeform: kakobrekla: those ARM servers that got in france, more than qualified to run this << what do they cost? iirc mircea was asking for a dirt-cheap gadget
asciilifeform: 'raspberry?' terrible, terrible i/o. ethernet on same usb as the storage. no thanks.☟︎
asciilifeform: imho, no to x86, no to fans, and ought to keep cost minimal.
asciilifeform: mircea_popescu: ideal candidate for an instant pocket-sized ~100 usd (largely cost of eeprom) node - miniature 'nas' devices. there are at least half a dozen manufacturers. not hard to do.
asciilifeform: mircea_popescu: ... if anyone could be arsed to publish a guide on 'how to turn commercially available router into btc full node' << the gadget i mentioned earlier, plus process, only need a larger - 64G+ - usb drive, to make this go. but i did not publish instructions, because did not think anyone wanted this.☟︎
asciilifeform: 'pc engines' (swiss) ships similar boards with modern amd (64-bit) cpu, rather than intel turds, for half the price.
asciilifeform: i was gonna mention it but was afraid folks would laugh.
asciilifeform: TomServo: do they still ship ancient 'pentium' ?
asciilifeform: BingoBoingo: on account of my having far too much garbage as is
asciilifeform: the only one i've ever opened actually had a... 486.
asciilifeform: cisco is not permitted in my home even unpowered.
asciilifeform: BingoBoingo: not readily available, rather. (the only real alternative i can think of, built from extant hardware, is 'pc engines' - if you can abide x86)
asciilifeform: BingoBoingo: routers with metal chassis, passive cooling, and removable mass storage generally are not cheap.
