4 ms·

So what's stopping people from making an open-source open-hardware tractor? There's stuff like Open Source Ecology which is very cool but nowhere near what John

So what's stopping people from making an open-source open-hardware tractor? There's stuff like Open Source Ecology which is very cool but nowhere near what John Deere offers. It's just hard to make stuff on their level and engineers want to be paid big bucks and not work too much. How do you ensure you have enough for their wages with your open-source open-hardware tractor company?

speed_spread 4y ago
I believe that the culture is just not there, generally. The industry is thinking in short-term ROI and "cost of doing business" ways but are actually locking themselves in which will have immense long-term social (externalized) costs. We hear a lot about GMO's health and environmental concerns but the real issue IMO is the captive business model these proprietary technologies imply. This will take decades to change. In the current conditions, I agree that an open-source supplier is a though proposition. "The invisible hand" is working on a time scale too short to allow self-regulation, thus the playing field would have to be leveled politically, maybe by changing the IP laws to benefit the people more. Unfortunately, a nation of vehement lawyers is very unlikely to allow this.
Aperocky 4y ago
Just give it time, people used to pay for OS back in the days.
bombcar 4y ago
The people who want an open-source open-hardware tractor continue to run their older tractors forever; you can get parts for nearly anything and the oldest tractors can be fixed with a welding torch and a supply of steel. The cross-section of "willing to pay full price for a brand new farm implement" and "cares enough to get a slower/less featureful device for open-source" is very small. If the open tractor was better and cheaper than the Deere, it'd win even without being open, and if it is not then it has a hard row to hoe. Construction equipment went down this path long ago, I've heard that Cat will basically give you machines for free as long as you sign up for the service/maintenance contract ...
- stonemetal12 4y ago
  How many harvests do you have to lose to tractor is down and Deere repair men won't be here for a month, before slightly worse but self repair possible tractor is better, cheaper tractor?
  - bombcar 4y ago
    How often does that happen? Every small town around here has a Deere shop and it doesn't seem to be a major concern.
    - stonemetal12 4y ago
      Probably not that often, but Deere gets sued dozens of times per year over right to repair so not none.
    - jacobr1 4y ago
      In fact the opposite ... one of the reason's Deere is popular IS there service coverage. In fact it is worth a premium.
pstuart 4y ago
Open Source Ecology was an exciting proposition but seems to have collapsed into the gravitational pull of its founder's ego.

speed_spread 4y ago

I believe that the culture is just not there, generally. The industry is thinking in short-term ROI and "cost of doing business" ways but are actually locking themselves in which will have immense long-term social (externalized) costs. We hear a lot about GMO's health and environmental concerns but the real issue IMO is the captive business model these proprietary technologies imply. This will take decades to change. In the current conditions, I agree that an open-source supplier is a though proposition. "The invisible hand" is working on a time scale too short to allow self-regulation, thus the playing field would have to be leveled politically, maybe by changing the IP laws to benefit the people more. Unfortunately, a nation of vehement lawyers is very unlikely to allow this.

Aperocky 4y ago

Just give it time, people used to pay for OS back in the days.

bombcar 4y ago

The people who want an open-source open-hardware tractor continue to run their older tractors forever; you can get parts for nearly anything and the oldest tractors can be fixed with a welding torch and a supply of steel. The cross-section of "willing to pay full price for a brand new farm implement" and "cares enough to get a slower/less featureful device for open-source" is very small. If the open tractor was better and cheaper than the Deere, it'd win even without being open, and if it is not then it has a hard row to hoe. Construction equipment went down this path long ago, I've heard that Cat will basically give you machines for free as long as you sign up for the service/maintenance contract ...

stonemetal12 4y ago
How many harvests do you have to lose to tractor is down and Deere repair men won't be here for a month, before slightly worse but self repair possible tractor is better, cheaper tractor?
- bombcar 4y ago
  How often does that happen? Every small town around here has a Deere shop and it doesn't seem to be a major concern.
  - stonemetal12 4y ago
    Probably not that often, but Deere gets sued dozens of times per year over right to repair so not none.
  - jacobr1 4y ago
    In fact the opposite ... one of the reason's Deere is popular IS there service coverage. In fact it is worth a premium.

pstuart 4y ago

Open Source Ecology was an exciting proposition but seems to have collapsed into the gravitational pull of its founder's ego.