Copyleft Hardware and the Ben Nanonote FOSDEM2010
With the recent activities in projects such as Openmoko, Arduino and Open Pandora, Copyleft Hardware is gaining more and more support and prominence. Every month developers around the globe realize that the hurdles to start hardware development are not as high as the industry wants us to believe. They get their tools out, load a free CAD program and join one of the many "Open Hardware" projects. This trend was started with ever more accessible hardware. Locked hardware that lets users install their own applications or completely customized operating systems. This was a good start, but a few questions arise. Is locked hardware running Free Software really all we want ever wanted? Do we trust the industry to respect our privacy when they control the software in the chips that route our communication? Is this really an opening up of the industry or just another marketing spin to keep the customer base happy? This talk will draw on the theory that Free Software on a locked device is only half the way and will highlight possible paths to the future. It will look at the alternative presented by the Copyleft Hardware movement, its difficulties as well as the possibilities of collaborative development. Drawing on examples from Shanzai Hardware from China, Arduino and the NanoNote the talk with explore the idea of the Qi hardware project and highlight some of the countless volunteers. It will propose a shift in ideology by which we no longer neglect aspects of our freedom simply because they seem too difficult to reach, a shift which appreaciates the changing environment in the Hardware arena instead of defining innovation away, a shift which finally brings us back to the point where 100% free means absolute freedom and not "everything after a certain point".
Recommended
More Related Content
More from Jon Phillips
More from Jon Phillips (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Copyleft Hardware and the Ben Nanonote FOSDEM2010
- 2. There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free or you are not free. Walter Cronkite
- 6. Free Hardware is NOT Enough.
- 7. What about BUGS in your CHIPS ?
- 8. We have 2 BIG Problems . No movement. No hardware platform.
- 10. 100% Copyleft Hardware .
- 11. Copyleft Plans CC Attribution-ShareAlike Plans + mechanisms to make device Documentation to make device
- 12. Copyleft Software GPL’d Basic Software GPL’d Tools to Make Device GPL’d Software on Chips
- 13. Free/Copyleft Patents CC’s Science Commons working on it. SFLC working on it. We are working on it.
- 14. Qi Hardware Reality is... Wiki, Mailing lists, IRC Project space using git
- 18. Features 100% Copyleft Hardware 100% Linux 100% GPL 100% BY-SA plans 100% Open Development: No code dumping OpenWRTLinux Distribution Extenbable via SDIO (microSD) Up to 32 gb SD card 2gb nand 32 mb ram
- 19. NanoNote is NOT a Product .
- 20. It is a Hacker Platform .
- 21. $99
- 22. The larger long term goal is to be a Free Dictionary !
- 23. We need YOU :)
- 25. Qi Priorities
- 26. Buy and Use Copyleft Hardware
- 27. File Bugs and Feature Requests
- 28. Update the Wiki (documentation)
- 29. Help Make OpenZim Reader (Targeting Free Dictionary 1 st )
- 30. Hack on OpenWRT (and help port packages)
- 31. Make Hacks with Copyleft Hardware (as a platform)
- 32. Do Advanced Hacking (CPU, MIPS emulator, Processor SIMD Video Support)
Editor's Notes
- Vertically Free Stack we get to hardware, and identify the problem of HARDWARE and your FREEDOM open source hardware says its open from top to bottom, but lets look at the ones that exist REALLY its closed hardware that runs free software: freerunner, openpandora, chumby, G1, HTC Nexus-1, Motorola Droid Copyleft Hardware is NOT open hardware! We have to be a bit more extreme to make our point How can you fix a bug in your chips? AND, we are NOT, free hardware (RMS) http://features.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=1999-06-22-005-05-NW-LF Arduino is, but not all parts open...are they trying to get more open, we hope so :) Beagleboard