Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
(Source: Screenshot is from github.com/sparkfun/Arduino_Pro_Mini_328/blob/master/
README.md)
Figure 14.1
README licensing text example from SparkFun, with a licensed use of the
Arduino trademark.
Product Webpage
As an entry point, the webpage is a good place to redirect users to other services or re-
sources around the project that remain more active—for example, a Twitter account or a
way to contact the community. Community contact typically includes forums, an active
community support list, or versioning on a site such as GitHub for a codebase. The Best
Practices state:
Provide links to the source (original design files) for your hardware on the
product itself, its packaging, or its documentation.
Labeling on the product pages also helps to make your intentions clear. For example,
you could label the product as open source hardware and use the open source hardware
logo (
Figure 14.2
) on the product page as well as your hardware, rather than making users
hunt for the design files and licensing clauses to ensure the designs and hardware are
open. The open source hardware logo was created to give users a visual cue that docu-
ments can be found on the source and the hardware follows the Open Source Hardware
Definition. The Best Practices remind you to use the logo clearly to convey which parts
are open:
Use the open-source hardware logo on your hardware. Do so in a way that makes
it clear which parts of the hardware the logo applies to (i.e., which parts are open-
source).
