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Other SBC makers don't have an issue offering full schematics, yet, due to their smaller size, have relatively more to lose from being cloned. Moreover, I hope
by hlandau 7y ago
Other SBC makers don't have an issue offering full schematics, yet, due to their smaller size, have relatively more to lose from being cloned. Moreover, I hope nobody believes that a lack of full schematics is going to stop people from making clones. Schematics can be reversed with not too much effort. Due to their large audience and brand recognition, rpi actually has less to fear from clones than smaller SBC vendors.
If anything, it seems like they've judged that their large size and brand recognition is something that they can coast on to avoid having to offer what other SBC vendors do.
I'm not complaining about rpi existing, I'm pointing out that what they offer is in certain aspects inferior to the offerings of smaller SBC vendors, which is actually surprising, given that their large size should make them much better resourced to match or exceed the offerings of those vendors. This causes me to question whether these values are actually a priority at all, even if they claim so.
- phosphophyllite 7y agoMaybe RPi developers deal with with some investors that way? (in order to attract more money)
- hlandau 7y agoThe Raspberry Pi Foundation is a nonprofit.
- morphle 7y agoHow are you a non-profit if you pay a salary to you employees and allow your suppliers to make a profit?. They act as a 'low profit' company, but they do make profits.
- grenoire 7y agoDo you realise that non-profit means that you just don't have leftover cash at the end of the year in your balance sheet? Non-profits pay their employees and their suppliers, their financial situation has absolutely nothing to do with what you are implying.
- patentatt 7y agoI think the gp’s point is that to a lot of entities (employees, suppliers) there is little difference between for profit and non profit. And if your nonprofit is passing profit along to a for profit ... you can see how the lines blur. Maybe a way to interpret the above comment is that the incentive structure for many people involved is not significantly impacted by the nonprofit status. And non profits can have money left over at the end of the year, they just don’t distribute it to shareholders.
- boomlinde 7y agoHence they aren't dealing with investors, which was his original question.
- Symbiote 7y agoThe Raspberry Pi Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales. "The object of the charity is to further the advancement of education of adults and children, particularly in the field of Computers, Computer Science and related subjects." They have a trading subsidiary. Anyone sufficiently cynical (not me) can read the accounts of both entities: - https://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details?regid=1129409&subid=0 https://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details?regid=... - https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08207441 https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08207441
- kasbah 7y ago
- ksec 7y agoAre there any single Widely known, Non-Profits Organisation that fits your description?
- bityard 7y agoWhat you think a non-profit is, is not actually what a non-profit is.
- Sohcahtoa82 7y ago> How are you a non-profit if you pay a salary to you employees How does paying your employees suddenly make you for-profit? Do you know the definition of "profit"?
- mondoshawan 7y agoThat gets 99% of their SoCs and other chips from Broadcom at cost. Don't forget this if you decide to compete -- you can't win on price.
- Jnr 7y agoI would buy cheaper RPi clones the same way I do with Arduino clones from China.
- lostmyoldone 7y agoIt's very unlikely releasing schematics would change anything. RPi as a board is clearly simple enough that there would be clones if you could get components at competitive prices. The only conclusion is than that you either can't get the CPU, or you can't get it at a competitive price. RPi use Broadcom chips, which you rarely find these on other hobbyist boards. The most likely cause, after what I heard from people in the industry, is that you usually either can't can't get Broadcom chips at all, at acceptable prices, or even documentation for them when you are only interested in the small quantities you'd need for introducing a new/clone hobbyist board. Not unless you've got some serious connections.
- heavenlyblue 7y agoGiven the fact that a single Arduino costs about half the price of an RPi... The only reason I would consider buying an Arduino (or similar) is for super-low-power applications.
- hannasanarion 7y agoYeah, that's what it's meant for. RasPi is a computer, Arduino is a microcontroller. Different tools for different jobs.
- heavenlyblue 7y agoYeah, but my point is that Arduino has a much higher premium than a Raspberry pi. Otherwise RPi would have been copied a long time ago at a lower price.