Turtles All the Way Down: So, does anyone actually operate this way?

So, after all everything's said and done, you're probably asking yourself "Why would somebody go through all this trouble to build a computer from the ground up? It's never going to be as fast as one that you can buy, so what's the point?" Ultimately, it comes down to what you're trying to accomplish. If you want the fastest possible CPU, tens of gigabytes of RAM, and four monitors so you can go raiding more efficiently chances are you have a threat model that doesn't approach the level of concern, paranoia, or security requirements that we assumed through the other articles in this series. If you're hoping to precisely replicate a customized laptop to run half a dozen virtual machines, an office suite, and a visual IDE you will probably be disappointed. I have no idea if it will be possible to run a virtualization stack like QEMU or even DOSbox on our free and open laptop. If you're looking to learn how computers operate from the ground up this is a good project; it might even make a good class project that covers a semester or two. If you're willing to trade off raw processor speed for visibility into the CPU's inner workings, a gig or two of RAM to be able to modify and upgrade every last aspect of the motherboard and interfaces, and no (or little) 3D acceleration for a platform that you're much more certain hasn't been compromised in subtle ways, this might be a project of interest (especially if your threat model fits the last 'if'...) Let's face facts. When working with computers we are forced to make many trade-offs. Code in a language which incorporates many features that let you precisely specify certain functionality and you might be trading off readability. Program in a language which is relatively simple and orthogonal and you'll be trading off by having to write more code later to carry out certain tasks. Ease of use and increased security measures are a trade off that we all make, one which frustrates many end users and causes people to pick legendarily bad passwords. Use a graphical user interface and you often trade off for visibility of inner workings and configurability (though good arguments have been made for the former, even I have to admit). Unfortunately we can't have everything both ways, as much as we might tell ourselves that we can. So, let's consider a couple of real-life case studies of some platforms and use cases that seem inconveniently limited or inordinately difficult to use. Richard M. Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and the GNU Project is famous for his hard-line stance against closed and non-free software in all shapes and forms. Love him, hate him, or respect him, he's a man who can clearly elucidate his beliefs, how he's come to hold them, and what he does every day to personally uphold and demonstrate them. I mention RMS not to criticise or canonize him but to discuss how he goes about his every day work. He wrote an essay called How I Do My Computing (which he updates periodically, judging by the train of copyright dates at the bottom of the page) that describes in great detail the trade offs he's willing to make to ensure that he uses as much free and libre software as possible. He tried for nearly a decade to find a laptop which not only ran a free operating system but had a free BIOS on the motherboard. For his use cases he says that he prefers text mode applications rather than a desktop environment for getting work done; not everyone is in a position to do this but it works for him. He is best known for refusing to use any closed source, non-free software (there is a difference) on purely ethical grounds. Yet, RMS is able to do everything he needs to do, from browsing the web to writing to checking his e-mail without any of the bells, whistles, and flashy effects that seem to come with tech in the twenty-first century. It is a common sentiment in the western world today that by admitting that you have made certain choices or taken certain trade-offs you are, in effect, trying to martyr yourself or trying to win people over by making needless sacrifices. This is not the case at all. If one were so inclined, one could make the case that it approaches the pinnacle of arrogance by stating in effect "I'm too lazy to even consider other possibilities, and I'm better than you because I can't be bothered to think." But that's a rant I'd rather not go on. The RaspberryPi, the latest darling of hackers and makers the world over, was created in response to a specific need: Computers have become so expensive and are perceived as being so fragile that kids are being forbidden to play around with them lest they damage something accidentally. I