Ars Technica: Most of the technology world is familiar with open source software and the reasons why, in some eyes, it's more appealing than proprietary software. When software's source code is available for anyone to inspect, it can be examined for security flaws, altered to suit user wishes, or used as the basis for a new product.
Less well-known is the concept behind open source hardware, such as Arduino. Massimo Banzi, co-creator of Arduino, spoke with Ars this month about the importance of open hardware and a variety of other topics related to Arduino. As an "open source electronic prototyping platform," Arduino releases all of its hardware design files under a Creative Commons license, and the software needed to run Arduino systems is released under an open source software license. That includes an Arduino development environment that helps users create robots or any other sort of electronics project they can dream up.
4 comments:
Open source isn't specific to software, though in use it often refers to it. Devices like the arduino and the raspberry pi have traditionally been for specific communities, often emphasizing learning and education through them. I'm a big supporter of open source (and a big opposer of the university's recent move off an open-sourced email system, Cyrus...) and hardware, so I look forward to the innovations in this growing field and business.
I'm also looking forward to the release of benchmark specifications and comparisons of the Galileo with existing Arduino-type boards. With the addition of x86 capabilities, a whole world of applications has been added to the world of "protyping boards". Intel does good things and I'm glad to see them joining the fight for open source, no matter what their corporate stance is.
Arduino is an interesting platform. It uses a fairly dumbed down language, which limits its capability. As stated in the article, Arduino is transitioning to a state where Arduino branded or compatible hardware is available for almost any level of computing. If this partnership with Intel leads Arduino to a place where they can scale their code to fit almost any size or speed application, Arduino rigs might start finding a place in applications rending from coffee makers to moving lights. Being open source, if every appliance from coffee makers to moving lights had the same computing board in them, replacing a part would be as simple as putting a new chip in and burning the program.
While I admit to not having very much knowledge in this field of computer technology and science, I still find the ideas stated in this article to be very appealing and promising. I do understand the idea of open-source software and think at times it can be a brilliant move for some software developing companies. The idea of open-source hardware is very intriguing to say the least, especially because of the possibilities that it opens later on down the road. When everybody is able to get their hands on the same software and integrate it into anything they want to, it leads room for thought on where this might end up. Like Frank said, will we soon be seeing everyday computers and computerized machines with Arduino's hardware in it? I am also especially curious to see where the partnership with Intel lands this company.
As a novice Arduino user with very little programming background, I find the capability of these products vast. There's so much that you can "teach" or program your Arduino to do, and almost always someone has the answer to your question. The network and community that's grown around this technology is incredible, and that wouldn't exist if it was a proprietary product/software. I can only hope that this culture continues to take root and grow into something even more vast than it already is.
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