Back when it was Freescale, I don't remember their documentation being that much better than Qualcomm's. The software support sure was better at first but given the RaspberryPi community size, I think it'd be a wash - although I don't know when LibRem started development. The biggest difference I experienced was that you could download iMX documentation along with all the reference designs without breaking into a Freescale employee's house or proving to one of their account managers that you could sell millions of units.

That is, by far, the thing I loved the most about the i.MX6 design I worked on: it was a high cost low volume board, but we could still get parts from Digikey and just download the reference material off the website. A company like Qualcomm wouldn’t have given us the time of day.

The raspberry pi is based around a graphics chip with a proprietary threadx based operating system. Librem's "software support" standards are high enough (no proprietary software) that this qualifies as worse support than a random Allwinner SoC.

This project feels like how the Pandora project was. It was expensive for it's time, promised to do cool things and then was in suspended animation for years while the world changed. Snapdragons got mainlined. Phones got cheaper. Other Linux phones that worked completely came out. They should have delayed it and just put in a mainlined snapdragon processor.

Easier said than done. As of few years ago, Qualcomm wouldn'y really talk to you unless you can guarantee at least 100k unit purchase- which gets quite expensive fast at ~30-40$/pc for a mid range SoC.

At the point where we got access to documentation and very basic support, around $1M USD was paid (part of which was covering the initial shipments of chips though).

It's funny you mentioned Pandora actually. I backed the open Pandora and when I first got it, I was severely disappointed. I think I threw it into a desk drawer for a couple of years and I stumbled upon it. When I opened it I was surprised to see it was still an active community and the device was not only usable but actually a joy to use! I used it has a laptop for a long time until a lost it (oops).

I should check on the pyra and see how that is.

That's just reminded me that I also backed the Pandora, waited ages (years?) and then when I got it I had moved on in need, and I was really disappointed in it. I sold mine within days, and the only upside was it was really profitable to do so as they were still in heavy demand at the time.

I thought I'd check on the project while writing this (every now and then I come across something that reminds me of it), and I see that the Preorder FAQ for the Pyra looks exactly like the one that was up for the Pandora for (what seemed like) years!

It's getting pretty close: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/production-pyra-pho... :)

That really makes me miss my pandora......

I'm having a hard time reading the last part. You lost your laptop? What made you disappointed?

Ahh sorry! The openpandora was my laptop, it was incrdibly small and worked really well for that. I also had a small USB keyboard i I needed to sit down and type longer.

I lost the open pandora, and that was a sad day.