Open Hardware Definition 1.0 Disseminated

Feb 15, 2011

The Hardware Summit announces the availability of version 1.0 of the Open Hardware Definition and asks for the community to help drive this initiative forward.

The Open Hardware Definition takes the Open Source Hardware (OSHW) Statement of Principles and Definition v1.0, which is a high-level overview of the ideals of open-source hardware and is attempting to apply definitions to those ideals to create a standard to evaluate licenses for hardware designs.

The Open Hardware Definition seeks to apply a standard definition to the following:

  1. Free Redistribution
  2. Source Code
  3. Derived Works
  4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code
  5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups
  6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor
  7. Distribution of License
  8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product
  9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software
  10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral

The availability of the definition was announced on the Hardware Summit Blog earlier this month and asks the community to help move this project forward. Those wishing to help with this initiative are asked to do the following:

  1. Endorse the definition and give feedback on version 1.0. There is a forum and the mailing list available to receive the feedback.
  2. Review the logos which are being considered for “open source hardware” and give feedback on the LOGO Thread on the forums.
  3. Show your support of the OSHW Definition by applying the definition to your work/project/website.

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