Open Source Hardware, How Open Do You Want It To Be?
1 min read
Summary
In an article on Hackaday, Jenny List questions the extent to which some open-source hardware (OSH) is truly open.
As an example of good practice in OSH, List refers to her own Single 8 home movie cartridge, for which all necessary files to reproduce the item are available under the CERN Open Hardware Licence on GitHub.
In contrast, some multi-file OSH projects omit some of the files, such as the bill of materials or the KiCAD files, with Gerbers and PNG schematics being included.
While the project might be open in that users have the right to use, modify and distribute any files that are provided, the absence of crucial files required to make the product means the project is not fully open as users cannot recreate it exactly.
List suggests that the OSH community should take a harder line with commercially driven ‘open-source’ projects that do not adhere to the principle of the ‘complete source’ being made available.
