Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Open source the complements to the hardware itself.
Someone who wants to re-
create or modify your design will likely need more than just a raw CAD file.
Provide whatever additional information seems likely to be useful—for example,
parts lists, assembly instructions, firmware, and user documentation. Furthermore,
by providing the original sources for these additional resources (not just compiled
binaries or Hard-to-edit documents like PDFs), you enable others to update them
together with your hardware files when creating new variations on a design.
Clearly distinguish between open source design files and the products based on
them.
Selling a physical product is very different from sharing a hardware design
file, even if the former is based on the latter. Someone who buys a product may
have higher expectations for its functionality, reliability, and safety than someone
who makes a device for himself or herself based on your design. If you make and
sell products based on someone else's design, be sure to distinguish between the
two, making it clear that the product is from you but giving credit to the original
designer.
Questions for the Future
Even if we continue to improve our practices along the lines suggested in the general prin-
ciples, it's not clear what the future holds for open source hardware and personal manu-
facturing. The pace at which technologies of digital fabrication and embedded computa-
tion are evolving shows few signs of slowing down (notwithstanding the impossibility of
the exponential growth of Moore's law continuing forever). The extent to which these im-
provements will extend the capability of individuals and the possibilities for open source
hardware, however, is not so easy to predict. Here are three questions about the future of
open source hardware and personal manufacturing—questions that I hope will encourage
us to think about the future we'd like to see and to work toward making it a reality:
Will the technologies that can be made by individuals keep pace with those pro-
duced by large companies?
Although technology continues to improve, it doesn't
necessarily do so in ways that are accessible to everyone. As a result, it's unclear
to what extent open source, DIY, and peer production will be able to keep up with
the devices that are produced and sold by large companies. While the potential
scope of open source hardware continues to expand as technology improves, the
gap between it and proprietary products may limit the extent to which it can serve
as a feasible substitute for them. We should remember that the decisions we make
influence the potential scope of open source hardware. If we encourage manufac-
turers to make their technologies available, support open tools, make use of open
standards, and make our own hardware open source, we can expand that extent to
