La noticia de la publicación de los archivos CAD del subnotebook OpenBook de VIA se ha propagado rápidamente en la red. Hay que leer ahora algunas citas y pensamientos que Michel Bauwens de la P2P Foundation pública en el Blog de la Fundación.

Citando diversas fuentes, Bauwens nos hace ver que la apertura de este proyecto es en realidad muy limitada (los archivos CAD se refieren únicamente a la estructura de plástico, mientras tanto el hardware y su software siguen closed), especialmente si lo comparamos al OpenMoko. Asì que podemos encontrar cuatro diferentes niveles de apertura para proyectos de Hardware Abierto (Open Hardware):

Closed: Closed Hardware is any hardware for which the creator of the hardware will not release information on how to make normal use of the hardware, in such a way that that information may be freely shared with others. A sure sign of closed hardware is requiring the signing of an NDA to receive documentation on how to make use of a device.

Open Interface: In the case of Open Interface hardware, all the documentation on how to make a piece of hardware perform the function for which it is designed is available. In the case of computer hardware, this means that all the information necessary to produce fully functional drivers is available. This is the minimum level of openness that makes hardware useful to the open software community. Surprisingly, large amounts of integrated circuits fall into this category. Any device for which you can get a complete data sheet from the manufacturer, with no limitations on sharing the data contained within, meets the Open Interface definition.

Open Design: Open Design hardware is hardware in which enough detailed documentation is provided that a functionally compatible device could be created by a third party. It is not at all uncommon for the programmer’s guides for a microcontroller to have complete instruction encoding formats, memory maps, block diagrams of the processor core, and other technical details that would make it possible to reproduce a compatible microcontroller. Open Design hardware allows you to see what was implemented and what it should do, but still keeps the finer details of how it was implemented closed.

Open Implementation: Hardware for which the complete bill of materials necessary to construct the device is available fall into the category of Open Implementation. In the realm of computer chips, this means the hardware definition language description of the device is available. For a circuit board, this would include the schematic. Everything needed to reproduce an exact copy of a device is available. This is the hardware parallel to the concept of open source software. The debate between ‘open’ and ‘free’ (libre) that exists in the software space exists for hardware as well. In this regard, the only hardware that can truly be claimed to be free, in the same manner that the Free Software Foundation defines free, is that which falls into the Open Implementation category. Unfortunately, unlike software, an idea and the desire to produce a hardware device that is free and open is not sufficient. Certainly in the semiconductor space, the ability to do so is beyond the individual and in most cases, beyond even a reasonably equipped development group.

Por último, aquí Bauwens nos señala una entrevista, que apareció en la revista Free Software Magazine, a los miembros de Open Graphics Project, un proyecto de desarrollo de una tarjeta 3D de código completamente abierto sea para software que para hardware. En esta entrevista podemos encontrar cuáles son los obstáculos específicos para el Open Hardware (y que puede ser útil para reflexionar sobre el despliegue de un más genérico Open Design).