Stallman's Legacy Halts At Hardware (hackaday.com)

szczys writes: To say Richard Stallman had a profound effect on free software is not a bold enough statement. The power of the GPL, and his advocacy for software freedom have changed the world. But there is one frontier that has yet to hear this gospel. These days, no hardware is an island. Almost every type of electronics we use is running some type of code, and in almost every case some of that code is secret in more ways than one. From beefy processors to graphics controllers, boot ROMs and binary blobs run in the silicon we base our systems upon. The code is not published and in the rare case that you are able to view the source it is only under strict NDA. This represents one of the biggest barriers to true open hardware.

Comments

Re:Why are so many moving away from the GPL?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice trill, shill. GPL is by far the most popular license on the planet, and it's growing. Whaaa whaaa, BSD, whaaa whaa, MIT. Nope. GPL is the code you'll find in just about every non-Apple consumer electronics device; even though the manufacturers could take vanity-ware licensed projects and keep quiet about them. They don't, though. Wonder why?

If you want to steal another's code, and pass it off as your own, hunt out the substandard and abandoned BSD equivalents.

Re:What's good about GPL?

[spire3661]

Here is the problem. I design computer software that when done is what i call a 'wrench'. If i forge an actual wrench out of metal, and drop it on the ground, any human can then come along and use it. If you build software that is designed to only reap profit then yes that is WRONG AND SHAMEFUL. Software should be a tool in the hand, not a leash around the neck. Profit is fine, its the extremes of profit and the walled gardens that cause Stallman (and others) to stand so far on the other side of the spectrum. Stallman says no profit because there are legions of people just like you who refuse to condemn commercial software's alchemist methods.