A problem I have faced during all the years I have been developing open source software and hardware (3/4 of my life now) and which most open source/hardware developers face, is that most people does not care to give back. Most people just take and take and take as they where put on earth just for doing that. They never care who they take from and what. “It’s free, it’s available, I just care about me, Me, ME and my close ones…”. No it’s not spoken out. It’s all in there actions. It’s not hard to see.
YES as an open source developer you get fed-up with this from time to time. We all have bills to pay. Open source/hardware developers have to. Surprisingly ey? So we sometimes close our source to protect our intellectual capital. Become people we don’t want to be. Protective of our work in a way that is against all we believe in.
Oh yes I know companies that use my work and get good money from it and even don’t bother to give a simple link back to any of my sites and it’s even a lesser chance they buy something from the FrogShop to support my work. “Why should they” they seem to think. If someone is foolish enough to leave something unprotected, of course we take it, use it, make it ours. “If I see a new TV or a car with the keys left in it on a parking lot I of course take it to. If someone left it there is must me mine. Right!?”
So when you are into this you often wounder what type of man you want to be. Like them? Or different? Different because you have other values in life.
No need to think about that for a long time. I decide on different.
So from now on all modules made by Grodans Paradis AB/Paradise of the Frog will be open source and open hardware. This means eagle files and all design documents, including source code for firmware will be available for all of them. License will be MIT. This info is not in all files yet but will be. I will add designmaterial and files as we go.
Yes the greedy ones will get more to “take” and make there own. But some will give back and contribute. I decide to focus on them. Because that make the world look a little better to me. It’s a fortune in that. At least I do believe it is.
Below the first two freed modules
https://github.com/grodansparadis/can4vscp_frankfurt_rs232 https://github.com/grodansparadis/can4vscp_beijing
More will follow .
Cheers
/Ake
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