The Future of Open Source Software is Open Source Hardware

Hagen Sankowski - hsank@nospam.chipforge.org

"Without Open Source Hardware, Open Source Software can't survive?"

Situation today

• Making Hardware is very expensive, but the prices for saled units are very low.
• Therefore Managers see a urgend need to prevent investigations from copying.
• They do not sale well-documented pieces, any words about the products are mostly marketing bullshit.
• It is horrible to get good informations about functionality, how the hardware works or how to configure inside a OS driver.

Situation today

• Even the Register Descriptions belongs to a Non-Disclosure-Agreement!
• You would break this NDA, if you would publish your code!

During few years, the Computer becomes a Black Box!

Customers view of computer

• They wish a simple-and-easy-to-handle system out of the box.
• They do not want check lists of software compatibility when bying a new PC card.
• They do not understand, why Windows is working and Linux not!

Solution "Reverse Engineering"

• Security Note: At least in the U.S.A this is a crime!
• The effort is very high, you cannot break all systems in a short time.
• Be honest, your code becomes a buggy heap of assumptions which no second pair of eyes reviews.

Solution "Driver wrapping"

• The driver was compiled for a certained OS, for a certained Processor Architecture.
• Especialy in *BSD systems, there are up to over 40 different Processor Architectures supported! So driver wrapping becomes a Virtualisation!
• That is nasty!

Free and Open Software is in urgend need of well documented hardware!

What doing?

Encourage hardware vendors to open their design by

• telling the IBM PC AT success story,
• telling the Linksys Wireless Router success story?

Well, look at the next talk after the break.

I like this:

The Free Software Definition

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom.

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour.
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits.

(c) Free Software Foundation

This works for Hardware too!

Just think of hardware as a couple of blueprints, schematics and source code in a hardware description language.

There are some differences

• You may copy the paperwork at low cost, but you can not do it with real hardware yet.
• The community in development Open Source Hardware is significant smaller than the community in development Open Source Software.
• Prototyping needs a significant investment in laboratory stuff.
• But the fabs exists, which are happy to manifacture your order at reasonable costs.

Short Break

• Hardware vendors restrict the information about the hardware.
• The computer becomes a black box more and more.
• Open Source Drivers for new PC cards become a hack.
• Open Source Software will get a smaller base on new platforms!

But ..

• Development of Open Source Hardware works the same way as Open Source Software.
• Everyone is able to see and understand, how the Hardware is working.
• Everyone is able to improve the hardware.
• Open Sources for Hardware are Documents for Development Open Source Software also!

Once Again:

"Without Open Source Hardware, Open Source Software can't survive!"

The advantages are

• We are able to work hand in hand and define a clean and easy hardware - software interface.
• This becomes a Win-Win-Situation for Open Source Hardware and Open Source Software.

So please open the Hardware!

• Buy well-documented Hardware only.
• Educate yourself in Hardware Topics and build your own Open Hardware.
• Encourage others.

Links

• www.opencollector.org - good starting point for tool research
• www.geda.seul.org - gEDA Tool Suite
• www.lis.inpg.fr/realise_au_lis/kicad - Schematic & PCB artwork
• icarus.com/eda/verilog - Icarus Verilog Simulator and Netlist Generator
• ghdl.free.fr - VHDL Simulator
• www.freehdl.seul.org - VHDL Simulator
• www.staticfreesoft.com - The Electric VLSI Design System
• www-asim.lip6.fr/recherche/alliance - Alliance the free VLSI cad system
• bach.ece.jhu.edu/~tim/programs/magic - Magic VLSI layout tool

Thanks for listening!

please feel free to ask..

Hagen Sankowski - hsank@nospam.chipforge.org