A company that markets PowerPC-based boards and systems for the embedded and desktop markets is offering free systems to developers with ideas for projects deemed to enhance PowerPC platform computing. Genesi says it has so far approved more than 140 such projects.

Two Genesi products are currently available through the program:

• The Efika 5K2 (pictured at right), a miniature board based on a Freescale MPC5200B processor clocked at 466MHz, and available with an optional case about the size of a mouse (pictured above)
• Open Desktop Workstation, based on a 1GHz G4 processor

Pending product availability, two others will be added, including:

• A high density blade based on dual Freescale G4 processors and the Tundra Tsi109 Northbridge
• Open Server workstation, based on dual IBM PowerPC 970MP processors (four processor cores)

Approved projects are supplied with an online project tracking blog, and hosting for project file releases, along with optional subversion repository and email address alias, the company says.

So far, about 125 Efika system projects have been approved, along with a dozen Desktop Workstation projects. Many of the projects appear to involve Linux, and project diversity is impressive. Brief overviews of each project and other program details can be found here.

 
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