[Discuss] Suggestions for the OSHWA website and FAQ?

Wed Oct 3 13:24:28 UTC 2012

At the OHS last week, Tom Igoe pointed out that, as long as we frame OSHW
as being for artists and engineers, we'll fail to attract others such as
social/political scholars, athletes, etc. There has also been, in my
opinion, an increasing perception that OSHW is all about
business/manufacturing and the other projects/initiatives tend to be
relegated to the shadows.

So it would be interesting to have a section about the fields in which OSHW
has applications and projects: education, natural sciences, medicine,
materials science, social sciences, humanitarian aid, arts & crafts,
environment, farming, space, transportation, manufacturing, etc.

We can all think of at least one project in each of these areas, but
outside our community not many have an understanding of how broad OSHW is.
I get asked a lot for examples of OSHW projects and I like to mention at
least one for each category, so having a page with all this info would
greatly help us explain what OSHW is and paint the big picture (that goes
well beyond any single company or project).

What do you think?

Catarina

On Wed, Sep 26, 2012 at 1:12 PM, Nathan Seidle <nathan at sparkfun.com> wrote:

> I second everything that's been said.
>
> I like Catarina's idea - lead by example. Have a list of 4 or 5
> examples of decent open source hardware projects that fits the basics
> and best practices.
>
> Adafruit has tons of good examples. Perhaps TV-B-Gone could be a good
> one to mention: http://www.ladyada.net/make/tvbgone/
>
> I hate to promote SparkFun but OpenLog is a reasonable example:
> https://github.com/sparkfun/OpenLog/wiki
> Documentation, firmware, design files, licenses
>
> ColorHug looks neat: http://www.hughski.com/
>
> I really want to not focus on electronics and PCBs so it would be
> ideal to get non-electronic based OSHW on there - I just don't know of
> any at the moment. Local Motors could be good but it's might be an
> example that feels too big to be approachable. Biology? Fashion?
> Mechanical?
>
> --
> Nathan Seidle
> CEO, SparkFun Electronics Inc
> Boulder, CO
> Phone : 1-303-284-0979
> Fax : 1-303-443-0048
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 6:23 PM, malcolm stanley
> <a.malcolm.stanley at gmail.com> wrote:
> > some of these good ideas may be more appropriate for a Wiki;
> > that would allow fair comment and contribution by members without placing
> > the actual association in a position of judgement.
> > also, I believe that if we do not crowdsource such knowledge we will all
> end
> > up the poorer for it.
> > _________________________________________
> > malcolm stanley
> >
> > google.voice:  215.821.6252
> > Cell: 267.251.9479   <------------- new
> > email: a.malcolm.stanley at gmail.com
> > twitter / linkedin: amstanley
> > Read my blog at http://soaringhorse.blogspot.com
> > _________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 6:43 PM, Alicia Gibb <pip at nycresistor.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> David has been instrumental to getting the existing FAQs up. Thank you
> >> David!
> >>
> >> I agree, it may be good to speak up about those unspoken rules. It seems
> >> there is a fair bit of confusion around those.
> >>
> >> The list of companies sounds cool, but we don't want to get into
> situation
> >> where oshwa becomes a judge or gate keeper of what is and isn't, and
> rather
> >> remains an educational source about open source hardware. But we like
> >> celebration! I'll be celebrating several factoids about open source
> hardware
> >> companies at the summit. We are also talking about a repo that could
> include
> >> any and all oshw projects that people upload themselves.  Basically a
> >> virtual library full of open source hardware goodness :) But I am off
> topic,
> >> that's a project not a FAQ.
> >>
> >> See you all at the summit!
> >>
> >> Alicia
> >>
> >> On Sep 24, 2012 3:44 PM, "Catarina Mota" <catarina at openmaterials.org>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> - A step by step of how to open source the right away: what files
> should
> >>> be published, when they must be up by (shipping, not 6 months later),
> etc.
> >>> This is one of the questions we get most frequently at OSHWA. People
> decide
> >>> to open source something but don't necessarily know what it's required
> to
> >>> comply with the definition.
> >>>
> >>> - The unspoken rules of OSHW as described by Phil.
> >>>
> >>> On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 5:37 PM, phillip torrone <pt at oreilly.com>
> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> a list of oshwa companies - elevate and celebrate oshw makers, a nice
> >>>> list of companies would be really cool for folks to see this is a real
> >>>> thing.
> >>>>
> >>>> cheers,
> >>>> pt
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On Sep 24, 2012, at 5:01 PM, "David A. Mellis" <dam at mellis.org>
> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> > Hi all,
> >>>> >
> >>>> > A while back, Alicia asked me to help update the content on the
> OSHWA
> >>>> > website and, in turn, I'd like to ask you for your help. In
> >>>> > particular, I'm interested in expanding the content of the FAQ
> >>>> > (http://www.oshwa.org/faq/) to make it more useful to those looking
> >>>> > for information about open-source hardware and OSHWA.
> >>>> >
> >>>> > What questions would you like to see answered in the FAQ?
> >>>> >
> >>>> > What information and advice would you offer to those interested in
> >>>> > open-source hardware?
> >>>> >
> >>>> > I know that this is a busy time - with the Open Hardware Summit and
> >>>> > Maker Faire approaching - but I wanted to raise the question now so
> we
> >>>> > can think about it during the summit. Suggestions welcome now or
> >>>> > later.
> >>>> >
> >>>> > David
> >>>> > _______________________________________________
> >>>> > discuss mailing list
> >>>> > discuss at lists.oshwa.org
> >>>> > http://lists.oshwa.org/listinfo/discuss
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> discuss mailing list
> >>>> discuss at lists.oshwa.org
> >>>> http://lists.oshwa.org/listinfo/discuss
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> discuss mailing list
> >>> discuss at lists.oshwa.org
> >>> http://lists.oshwa.org/listinfo/discuss
> >>>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> discuss mailing list
> >> discuss at lists.oshwa.org
> >> http://lists.oshwa.org/listinfo/discuss
> >>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > discuss mailing list
> > discuss at lists.oshwa.org
> > http://lists.oshwa.org/listinfo/discuss
> >
> _______________________________________________
> discuss mailing list
> discuss at lists.oshwa.org
> http://lists.oshwa.org/listinfo/discuss
>
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