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Questions tagged [hardware]

For questions about applying open source principles to hardware design, including schematics, HDL source code and integrated circuit layout data.

For questions about applying open source principles to hardware design, including schematics, HDL source code and integrated circuit layout data.

41 questions
22
votes
7 answers

How do open-source concepts apply to hardware?

Most of us know open-source and open-source concepts from software. Code is easily distributable. We have various licences that help us legalize and regulate how people use our code, and we have various services that help us reach out and…
Madara's Ghost
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17
votes
2 answers

Is it possible to build free open hardware desktop PC?

I am in need of a desktop PC made only of Free and Open hardware components. If I could be sure that such a thing is possible, I'd even be willing to build it myself; however, I can find no guides on Google on how to determine if this motherboard is…
Noob Saibot
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11
votes
4 answers

Can a mouse be "free software"?

There are systems consisting of wholly free software, and in some cases the hardware is also driven by free software. What about mice? Do mice have software on them which would make them "nonfree"? I've plugged this mouse into Ubuntu, Debian and…
Jackson Ray Hamilton
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9
votes
1 answer

Does a license apply to both the design AND the physical object (if it is made)?

Suppose I have a design for a truck. Simple enough. Possibly in a .CAD file or some such program. I publish this design on my website under a BY-NC-ND licence. Someone on the web finds my design and builds it using wood or a 3d printer. Now we have…
Trevor Clarke
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6
votes
1 answer

What parts of the Novena are not open source?

Novena tries to be an open source computing platform. But so far it's only partially open source. Which parts are still not open source and have to be replaced to create a fully open source platform? The Novena has abundance of documentation, but…
Mnementh
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5
votes
1 answer

TAPR Open Hardware License not open source?

I see that the OHL has "open" in its name but it is not to be found in the open-source initiative's list. Did they not apply? Did they apply but do not match the open source definition? Why? I found that the CERNOHL is also not listed.
User
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3
votes
1 answer

When making a piece of hardware how do I apply a license to it?

When building a digital open sourced project it is very easy to apply the licence. You can do this by putting it anywhere in the product in places such as: The bottom of a blog post In the code itself In the documentation My question: How do I…
Trevor Clarke
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-2
votes
1 answer

OSHW board for Artix 7 FPGA XC7A15T

I am looking for an Open Source Hardware (OSHW) board for an Artix 7 FPGA XC7A15T but couldn't find one. I would be grateful if someone from this community can guide me. I would prefer a design in eagle!
dmSherazi
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-4
votes
1 answer

Open Source Medical Equipment

Are there any projects currently developing libre medical equipment? Obviously, this would include the designs and instructions to build common medical equipment, including: Autoclaves Microscopes EKG machines Hematology analyzers Ultrasound…
Michael Altfield
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