Thx for that link! Deserves its own HN post imho. It lays out the issues quite well. But... there's several things people here are forgetting: OSHW isn't just

Thx for that link! Deserves its own HN post imho. It lays out the issues quite well. But... there's several things people here are forgetting: OSHW isn't just about chips, but also boards, case designs & possibly more. Those other things can be inspected easily. OSHW is also about supply security. Vendor folds? Take existing design & have another supplier manufacture it. US buyer doesn't trust Chinese vendor? Nothing stopping that buyer from taking design to say, a US or EU based manufacturer. This includes IC designs. OSHW allows modification & thus exchange of parts. So any part considered not 'open enough', can be exchanged for more acceptable one. Not saying anything about the practicality of this. But with closed designs these options don't exist or are much, much more difficult. And any vendor found to have tampered with an open design's manufacture, would see its reputation ruined (let's be honest, manufacturer would be the 'best' place to plant a backdoor, right?).