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>> So is anyone working on building an 'openfab' or is it such a big task 
>> that everyone just backs away in horror? :D

>My understanding is that the capital costs involved with building and 
>operating a chip fabrication plant are astronomical, although the 
>situation may be getting better. 

>http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/design/the-new-economics-of-semiconductor-manufacturing

Even 30 years ago, there were custom fabs that were designed to allow small organizations to get chips fabbed.  This may be one of the modern version of them:  http://www.globalfoundries.com/manufacturing/manufacturing-overview

In the mid 80's, they typically purchased older fabs (not state of the art) and allowed small companies to prototype their semiconductor designs.  Today, some of them apparently do near-state-of-the-art production.

               Jim Bell