r5312 - in developers/werner: . openness

[werner at docs.openmoko.org]

Author: werner
Date: 2009-07-22 21:41:08 +0200 (Wed, 22 Jul 2009)
New Revision: 5312

Added:
   developers/werner/openness/
   developers/werner/openness/Makefile
   developers/werner/openness/oshwdr.tex
Log:
First draft version of a short description of the principles and benefits
of Open Source Hardware, and the requirements it has on component vendors.



Added: developers/werner/openness/Makefile
===================================================================
--- developers/werner/openness/Makefile	                        (rev 0)
+++ developers/werner/openness/Makefile	2009-07-22 19:41:08 UTC (rev 5312)
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+.PHONY:	all dvi xdvi pdf xpdf print print4
+
+all:	xpdf
+
+dvi:
+	latex oshwdr
+
+xdvi:	dvi
+	xdvi oshwdr
+
+pdf:
+	pdflatex oshwdr
+
+xpdf:	pdf
+	xpdf oshwdr.pdf
+
+print:	dvi
+	dvips -f oshwdr | lpr
+
+print4:	dvi
+	dvips -f oshwdr | mpage -4 | lpr

Added: developers/werner/openness/oshwdr.tex
===================================================================
--- developers/werner/openness/oshwdr.tex	                        (rev 0)
+++ developers/werner/openness/oshwdr.tex	2009-07-22 19:41:08 UTC (rev 5312)
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+%
+% Audience: component vendors
+%
+% Objectives:
+% - accurately present our needs
+% - understandable (to corporate)
+% - convincing
+%
+% Off-topic:
+% - software requirements
+% - firmware updates
+%
+
+\documentclass[12pt]{article}
+%\usepackage{fullpage}
+\usepackage{a4wide}
+\usepackage[obeyspaces]{url}
+\pagestyle{empty}
+
+\title{Open Source Hardware --- Disclosure Requisites}
+\author{Werner Almesberger \\ \url{werner at openmoko.org}}
+\date{July 22, 2009}
+
+\parindent=0pt
+\parskip=8pt
+\addtolength{\textheight}{10mm}
+
+\begin{document}
+\maketitle
+\thispagestyle{empty}
+
+Open Source Software has proven that an open design process and liberal
+licensing contribute towards enhancing the quality, utility, and overall
+success of software products, and encourage convergence and cooperation
+among projects.
+
+Open Source Hardware is an approach that aims to enhance quality and
+value of hardware products by applying an open design process, by applying
+best practices of Open Source Software development.
+
+This document outlines the characteristics and benefits of Open Source
+Hardware and explains the requisites resulting from this on technical
+documentation provided by component vendors.
+
+
+\section{Characteristics}
+
+Open Source Hardware design is guided by the following principles:
+
+\begin{itemize}
+  \item Expose the entire design process to public review.
+  \item Invite contributions from anyone willing and able, irrespective
+    of affiliation.
+  \item Distribute the resulting design under an Open license,
+    permitting use and further modification free from royalties.
+\end{itemize}
+
+Examples of Open licenses include the General Public License (GPL)%
+\footnote{\url{http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html}} and the Creative
+Commons Attribution -- Share Alike license (CC-BY-SA)%
+\footnote{\url{http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/}}.
+
+
+\section{Benefits}
+
+Fully disclosing the design and the decision process leading to it
+brings the following benefits to development and use of the product:
+
+\begin{itemize}
+  \item Enables prospective buyers and developers to participate in
+    ensuring high quality of the product through reviews. This also
+    helps to accelerate the produce development process.
+  \item Permits prospective buyers and VARs to conduct a thorough and
+    honest evaluation of the product design, improving their ability
+    to correctly project the product's use and increasing their
+    confidence in choosing the product.
+  \item Lowers the barrier for developers and integrators to add value,
+    either already during the design phase or on top of the finished product.
+  \item Protects the investment of buyers, developers, and integrators
+    by enabling them to make corrections, enhancements, and even
+    derivative products without depending on the availability of the
+    original designers and manufacturer.
+  \item Creates the opportunity for other projects to reuse
+    part or all of the design with a minimum of overhead, and to grow
+    synergies by reciprocating.
+\end{itemize}
+
+
+\section{Documentation requisites}
+
+The open hardware development process requires the use of components
+for which the vendor makes technical product documentation available
+under terms that allow public use of the information gathered from it.
+The most common forms of such terms are:
+
+\begin{description}
+  \item[Permissive NDA]~\\
+    Material is provided by the vendor under an NDA tailored to this
+    purpose. The NDA allows open
+    discussion of the design and distribution of the resulting work
+    (schematics, layout, system software) under an Open license.
+  \item[Public access]~\\
+    The vendor publishes data sheets and related material to the public,
+    e.g., on its Web site. Access to this information for Open Source
+    Hardware is then no different from any other use.
+  \item[Redistribution rights]~\\
+    The vendor also grants redistribution rights, allowing projects to
+    ensure that documents remain available even when the vendor no
+    longer supports the product.
+\end{description}
+
+Public access is preferable over a permissive NDA since it limits the
+effort that has to be made on both sides before evaluation can begin,
+reduces the risk of misunderstandings, and avoids overhead in the design
+phase.
+
+\end{document}