3 ms·

I feel that one of the problems with Open Source in general is that there are the terms of the license, and then there is the "good faith" expectations of the c

I feel that one of the problems with Open Source in general is that there are the terms of the license, and then there is the "good faith" expectations of the community. In the case of 3D Printers, for instance, first there is license that says "Here's the design and the software, if you make and sell something derivative, put those changes up for everyone else" But the unspoken good faith statement is "You're going to take this, and make it better, and we're all going to benefit from your efforts to make it better". The printer clones were not made with an eye towards making things better, but made with an eye toward making things cheaper, and more specifically, more profitable for the manufacturer. It could be argued that cheaper is a form of better, but I think generally the consensus is that the cheaper clones did the job less well, and the sellers already had our money.

avmich 3y ago
Whenever we codify something in law - and licenses are a kind of a law use - we're trying to achieve something we mean. So, in many cases in life there are words of the law - or license - and the unspoken intent. I guess you mean that the intent could be different in different cases or differently understood in the same case. Here, with 3D printers, some intended to encourage to make better printers, and some intended to allow the same quality for less, or at least to allow presenting a variety of price-quality offerings to choose from. Sellers already had our money in case we paid those sellers the same money for inferior product. The product of similar quality - even if seller managed to make it cheaper - seems fair game, and with time we'd assume the price to come down. So, we probably have a disagreement on what the intent was or is for the OSHW. For some intents the examples you give are expected.

avmich 3y ago

Whenever we codify something in law - and licenses are a kind of a law use - we're trying to achieve something we mean. So, in many cases in life there are words of the law - or license - and the unspoken intent. I guess you mean that the intent could be different in different cases or differently understood in the same case. Here, with 3D printers, some intended to encourage to make better printers, and some intended to allow the same quality for less, or at least to allow presenting a variety of price-quality offerings to choose from. Sellers already had our money in case we paid those sellers the same money for inferior product. The product of similar quality - even if seller managed to make it cheaper - seems fair game, and with time we'd assume the price to come down. So, we probably have a disagreement on what the intent was or is for the OSHW. For some intents the examples you give are expected.