Talk:Open source hardware
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[edit] IBM Cell Processor
What about the new promising IBM Cell Processor?
I read at many places, it is supposed to be "open source hardware":
- Is it only the interface specification to the hardware, which is open?
- Or is the whole hardware design (including verilog source code etc.) public available?
- Or is even the hardware design licensed under a licence which fulfills the 4 freedoms of software/OS Definition?
If anybody knows sth. about it => Please add it here!!! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 194.95.147.244 (talk • contribs).
[edit] OpenRISC Comment
I have removed a comment after the bullet point for OpenRISC which said, "one sufficiently good that there is no need to apologize for any part of its design". Was there any good reason for it being there? If so an explaination would be useful. --Dave104
- I think it was trying to be a roundabout way of saying it was hoping to be competitive with commercial systems. --maru (talk) contribs 04:23, 8 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Terminology
Is it really true that all of this is strictly open source and not Free software? I see a GNU project mentioned, and I doubt they'd ever allow their stuff to be merely open-source. --Maru (talk) Contribs 03:23, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Openhardware.net deceased or down?
openhardware.net appears to no longer function, or at least for me. Has it disappeared? --Rspanton 01:06, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Open design and open source hardware
There is another article about 'Open design' which covers open-source physical goods beyond electronic items in more detail - focusing more on mechanical design and the tools needed in that field. The term 'hardware' can be fairly subjective of course, but most of this (the Open source hardware) article focuses on computer and electronic hardware. I'm just mentioning this for those that didn't know of the existence of the other article and perhaps its worth making more of a distinction when adding links to projects? Naturally there are always going to be some projects that overlap, but perhaps the more overtly mechanical projects should be in the open design article? Although the subjects are obviously closely related I think there is enough of a difference to warrant the separate articles. Of course, feel free to disagree - CharlesC 12:47, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Open Hardware or Technology?
"Open source hardware" as defined seems to limit discussion to computers and the components that make up a computer with perhaps a nod to computer peripherals and no nod whatsoever to other types of open source technology like the Oscar project, for example. In short, the entry seems to have morphed into something that the entry title no longer describes.
This is a bit of a problem because many types of technology contain "computers" but can't be considered a computer for practical purposes in any reasonable manner. Modern automobiles, for example, will have as many as seven microprocessors that manage the engine alone.
I think, perhaps, we need to think about how we categorise all of this and have something like
"Open source technology" of which "open source {computer} hardware" is a subset.
Ideas? Feedback?
Plaasjaapie 18:22, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
- Did you notice the comment just above, that discusses the distinctions between open source hardware vs open design? :) -- intgr 20:55, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
