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Indeed - we see some really innovative uses of OSS on GitHub from companies you wouldn't expect. Software is an enabler of their business, initially; then, it b

by moby 10y ago

Indeed - we see some really innovative uses of OSS on GitHub from companies you wouldn't expect. Software is an enabler of their business, initially; then, it becomes totally interwoven. One of my favorites? John Deere. https://github.com/johndeere https://github.com/johndeere

fgandiya 10y ago
John Deere are pretty cool. My college is 20 minutes away and they hire a lot of interns throughout the year.
- rasjani 10y ago
  But their practices regarding their 'hardware' is not so cool. http://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/ http://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/
- jabl 10y ago
  I recall John Deere became infamous for trying to DRM their tractors to hell, so that only official authorized ($$$) workshops are allowed to fix anything. Ah, yes, a bit of googling brings something up: https://boingboing.net/2015/05/13/john-deere-of-course-you-ow.html https://boingboing.net/2015/05/13/john-deere-of-course-you-o... I mean, if I were a farmer or had a reason to own a tractor for some other reason, I'd avoid them. Then again, the cynic in me thinks that everybody is doing this, JD just got caught and their ham-fisted PR response made it an order of magnitude worse for them.
  - moby 10y ago
    It'll be interesting to see how they progress on this front in the near term. I recall just a few years ago that Ford was extremely closed off with their developer toolkit on their SYNC systems; slowly, as they realize that collaborative development can take place with no impact to central functions of the vehicle's operation, they can open up the ecosystem a little bit. That's all an ideal state, of course; reality is wrought with questions over who owns what, etc. but I'm optimistic.
slang800 10y ago
Now if they'd just release their tractor firmware so people can actually repair and control the 50-250k USD machines that they _own_, then I may respect them.

by moby 10y ago

fgandiya 10y ago

John Deere are pretty cool. My college is 20 minutes away and they hire a lot of interns throughout the year.

rasjani 10y ago
But their practices regarding their 'hardware' is not so cool. http://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/ http://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/
jabl 10y ago
I recall John Deere became infamous for trying to DRM their tractors to hell, so that only official authorized ($$$) workshops are allowed to fix anything. Ah, yes, a bit of googling brings something up: https://boingboing.net/2015/05/13/john-deere-of-course-you-ow.html https://boingboing.net/2015/05/13/john-deere-of-course-you-o... I mean, if I were a farmer or had a reason to own a tractor for some other reason, I'd avoid them. Then again, the cynic in me thinks that everybody is doing this, JD just got caught and their ham-fisted PR response made it an order of magnitude worse for them.
- moby 10y ago
  It'll be interesting to see how they progress on this front in the near term. I recall just a few years ago that Ford was extremely closed off with their developer toolkit on their SYNC systems; slowly, as they realize that collaborative development can take place with no impact to central functions of the vehicle's operation, they can open up the ecosystem a little bit. That's all an ideal state, of course; reality is wrought with questions over who owns what, etc. but I'm optimistic.

slang800 10y ago

Now if they'd just release their tractor firmware so people can actually repair and control the 50-250k USD machines that they _own_, then I may respect them.