La notizia della pubblicazione dei file CAD del subnotebook OpenBook da parte di VIA si è diffusa rapidamente nella rete. Vale la pena ora leggere alcune riflessioni e citazioni che Michel Bauwens della P2P Foundation pubblica nel blog della Fondazione.

Citando varie fonti, Bauwens ci fa notare come l’apertura di questo progetto sia in realtà molto limitata (i file CAD si riferiscono alla sola scocca in plastica, l’hardware non viene trattato e neppure il suo software), soprattutto se lo paragoniamo a OpenMoko. Ecco quindi quattro differenti livelli di openness per progetti 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.

Infine, qui Bauwens riporta una intervista apparsa sul Free Software Magazine ai membri dell’Open Graphics Project, un progetto di sviluppo di una scheda 3D completamente open source. In questa intervista possiamo trovare quali siano gli specifici ostacoli alla diffusione dell’Open Hardware (e che possono esserci utili per riflettere sulla diffusione di un più generico Open Design).