Article about open hardware

Interesting reading : [blog.makezine.com]

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Most of my technical comments should be correct, but is THIS one ?
Anyway, as a rule of thumb, always double check what people write.

Sort of promotional slant and all fuzzy and big makers brotherhood don't you find? I'd like to see more of the mediocre / half cooked quality of certain OH products being sold addressed.

I have had mixed experiences: some excellent products, with outstanding workmanship, and some rushed, half-finished, half-thought, half-assed stuff. And in between, very little signalling, no reference points, virtually no serious reviews...

He talks about things he considers to be not fair: "Cloning ain’t cool" and "Support your customers". Heck, who of the cloners cares about that? Especially if the clone works flawlessly - which is always the case if the project is poperly open sourced -, people do buy the cheapest clone and people do ask for support in the originator's forum. Just look how many people here at RepRap recommend a chinese Arduino clone under their RAMPS over an original Arduino.

Open source hardware is still a very mixed bag. A very interesting playfield, but fairness? To be successful with open source, you have to put emphasis on different things, like being cool, like branding.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

That reads like a lot of whiny navel-gazing to me. Sounds like the author thinks way too much of himself and the social importance of his "cause".

Sounds a bit like wanting to have your cake and eat it too. If you want to discourage cloners and get royalties then get a patent. If you want to do open source then don't expect those things. Is it nice when someone acknowledges your contributions and perhaps even gives you some money, sure, but don't act like it's some cultural expectation. The culture of open source is not about getting money and having control. If your design is so popular (including clones) that you can't support everyone, then don't. Let them support themselves. It's open source after all.

"But then we just have to support them instead." Says the community.

No, you really don't.

"But we want reprap to succeed."

Good then you are getting something out of it. The satisfaction of contributing to a good cause. So do free support for however many hours that satisfaction lasts, and then play with your reprap the rest of the time. (Oh, and maybe play with the kids too, and pay attention to the wife every once in a while. And drop the guilt.