[Grants] Grant Application from Russell Coker for RISC-V, smart-watch, and tablet computing development

[Linux Australia Website]

Your Email Address: russell at coker.com.au
Project name: RISC-V, smart-watch, and tablet computing development
Grant Type: Project Grant
Aim of the project: The primary aim is to improve the free software ecosystem for RISC-V and for tablets for Debian, OpenBSD, and maybe NetBSD. One secondary aim is to get the PineTime smart watches talking to the free software ecosystem and exploring new ways of managing notifications from the OS. Another secondary aim is to make further progress on the work from the previous grant. Another secondary aim is to do further investigation of the use of VMs on handheld devices which needs the 16G of RAM in the LicheePad devices. Another secondary aim is to compare RISC-V and ARM and determine how free software can be migrated between CPUs and especially concerning security features.
The work done as part of the grant from June 2023 is continuing but we are limited in our ability to do some things due to the PinePhonePro only supporting Bluetooth 5.0 (while the PineTime works better when talking to a device with a newer version of Bluetooth), the lack of Linux software support for low resolution displays, and the inability to make a PinePhonePro a daily driver phone at this time due to problems with reliability and battery life. We want to have fully free software handheld devices usable for most people which is plausible for a Debian tablet in the near future but for a Debian phone even experts will have issues for the next year.
Russell and Yifei both own PineTime devices which work well for regular use. But there is a need to have other devices just for development.
Estimated cost breakdown of the project: 2 LicheePad4A (not max) tablets that are expected to cost $650 each.
PineTime smart watch about $50
PineTime development kit about $50
2*1 year plans for cheap phone service about $100 each
Total 2*650+50+50+2*100=$1600
Project team details: Russell and Yifei are currently working on PinePhonePro devices from a previous Linux Australia grant.
First Name: Russell
Last Name: Coker
Email Address: russell at coker.com.au
A statement including a willingness to provide regular project updates on the project: We will write regular blog posts and provide as many other updates to the community as people are interested in.
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