Makernet
Is this open source?
Email from founding team implies it is, but there are conflicting messages:
Hello,
I am working on makernet.org, a solution for sustainable OSH businesses. It’s a git repository for hardware (with proper licenses like CERN OHL 2.0 soon, 2D and 3D preview and conversion), with a store front and a manufacturer database, and allowing designers to be paid. We think being able to set up successful businesses is a key part in making OSH grow. MakerNet is also set up as a business to make it sustainable.
We are in beta and still have a lot to do and figure out, but we’d like to work with you and host the OSE projects for people to be able to order the manufacture of them. As you already have deep insights and exposure to OSH your feedback would be very welcome, and we’d be more than happy to solve some issues that you may have (do you have a public list of your current issues and targets?).
Let me know what you think and how/if MakerNet can be of help.
Thanks
Question
Question after watching your video - you imply that the designs are OSHWA compliant, which means free to produce without royalties, but your intro video says that customers pay for designs. How is this consistent with the OSHWA definition?
Marcin
Response
Yes all the products are free to manufacture without royalties. The only case where there is a designer fee is if you, as a client, just want to buy the manufacture of a product directly from makernet, and not build it yourself. Anybody is able to download the documentation and build it themselves (or contact manufacturers to do it and/or sell the products) even for products that pay designers when manufactured on makernet.
This way the people interested in the product can just buy it as they would on amazon, but with local manufacturing. And the people interested in "DIY building" / improving / modifying the documentation can still do so in an open source way.
Also note that the designer fee is optional, designers can also decide to make the manufacturing of their products fee-less.
We’re working on a new video to make things clearer :)
Thanks
More Questions
How will you handle the license? If people build themselves, then an OSHWA compliant license is available to them. If producers build for others, then the design is not OSHWA-compliant for them. Does that mean that you will do something like a dual license, with open source licensing for private use, and non-OSHWA licenses for commercial use? I am not sure if this is legally implementable, or how to describe it. I don't think you can call this type of setup open source, but as long as you don't use the words open source in your branding, that is perfectly legitimate. If you do use the words open source in such a case, I don't think that would be ethical.
Marcin
