[Discuss] discuss Digest, Vol 10, Issue 6

Catarina Mota catarina at openmaterials.org
Thu Mar 7 15:05:31 UTC 2013


I completely agree with David, Tom and Marco and what they suggest has so
far been standard and the advise OSHWA provides when that question arises:
can I call my product open source but only release the files in 3/6/12
months?

As someone pointed out in this discussion: the only differences between a
proprietary and open source project are the availability of the files and a
license (or statement) that allows anyone to study, copy, modify and
redistribute the product. Without the first one, the second one is not very
useful.

So while it's perfectly acceptable for a company or individual to release
the files at a later point (be it for business reasons or simply because
the documentation is not done yet) the product is not actually open source
until this happens and therefore should not be described as such. Intent is
impossible to gauge and, in my opinion, can't be factored in.

On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 5:27 PM, Marco Perry <mperry at pensanyc.com> wrote:

> Call its open when it's open. One can always plan and lay graphics out on
> your equipment and packaging, but if it ships/posts/ is deployed in a
> significant way with a logo and it's not open yet, thats should not be
> allowed. It's like a UL logo. You plan for it, but they wouldn't let a
> product ship that didn't pass their standards and still use their logo.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Mar 2, 2013, at 3:22 PM, Tom Igoe <tom.igoe at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> That argues in favor of only calling it open when it ships, doesn't it?
>
> Marco Perry <mperry at pensanyc.com> wrote:
>>
>> What if the person doesn't follow thru with best practices? It's hard to
>> revoke if the boards and package is printed.
>>
>> Sent from my newly outdated iPhone 4S
>>
>> On Mar 2, 2013, at 10:52 AM, Tom Igoe <tom.igoe at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I'd agree with that, though it's an interesting question for things like
>> Kickstarter campaigns.  Do you release the files when you start your
>> kickstarter campaign, or when you ship?
>>
>> r.
>>
>> On Mar 2, 2013, at 10:49 AM, David A. Mellis wrote:
>>
>> Personally, I think it's okay to use "open-source hardware" and the logo
>> as long as the design files are released with the product. Before release,
>> the distinction between "is" and "will be" seems like a subtle one -- for
>> everything about the product, not just whether or not it's open-source.
>>
>>
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> --
> Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
>
>
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