@Wen @bifrosty2k @Alienated53 @luis_in_brief @chu

Similarly, for those doing hardware design, supply chain issues can be a real problem. JIT paradigms, break down entirely.

For example, anyone who pays attention to @bunnie's Precursor project, will have observed: this was done in the same time frame as the pandemic.

I preordered 2 Precursors. Both arrived, when expected, no issues.

In the same time frame, I also preordered a HiFive SiFive Unmatched. I never received it. Crowd Supply did not even issue me a refund, until last year.

Also in the same time frame, Planet Computers announced their "Astro Slide 5G" via IndieGoGo. Last time I received an update from that project (which was months ago) they had maybe only shipped units to about half the people who backed it, and were at odds with their ODM.

I mean, it doesn't surprise me that bunnie mitigated around the failures of the industry with which he is intimately familiar. His blog updates, even before the Precursor project, reflect how astute he is. His 2019 BlueHat talk on Supply Chain Security, is one of the only public presentations of its kind: youtube.com/watch?v=RqQhWitJ1A

His book, The Hardware Hacker, speaks to the realities and economics of supply chain pitfalls. Few other people even seem to be paying attention to such challenges, let alone sharing their knowledge publicly instead, treating them as "trade secrets".

Albeit I'm biased. I took a class in hardware hacking from bunnie at ToorCon in 2006. One thing that stood out when another student asked him: "what if someone clones your design and undercuts you?"

His response (paraphrasing): "If someone can do what I do, and bring it to market for less than what I can? I will use them as my supplier!"

Flawless logic there, most would be too tied to their ego & "ownership" to sit well with that type of adversarial economic fabricator. He clearly cares about security beyond price points into tractable methodologies which end users can verify themselves.