If such a machine with reasonable specs (I do not expect a 64-core 256-GB-RAM-monster) could be brought down to the 1000 $/€ price range, I would seriously look into it.
(I am not sure how realistic that price range is, though.)
What about Loongson? IIRC, Richard Stallmann uses a Notebook based on it, because it has free firmware. Performance is probably not breathtaking, but it exists. Does somebody know if there are Desktop machines built around that chip?
They should have offered a bare version with just the board, ram and maybe video card (to ensure comparability). They needed the ~$1k USD hobbyist market.
It seems like the goals were way too high, like the Ubuntu Edge.
They did offer that, but the board alone was $3,700.