Author Topic: OpenSource Hardware, Software and Firmware  (Read 575 times)

mc-Hammer

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Re: OpenSource Hardware, Software and Firmware
« on: August 05, 2016, 07:20:08 pm »
Hi Helge,

Apologies for the tardy reply.

Unfortunately during and after the Kickstarter campaign we were faced with some tough choices. We had hoped to keep things completely open but unfortunately there were some choices that conflicted with keeping things open.

1. Security. In order to provide very robust enterprise level security we could not open up significant parts of the firmware. These security methods and implementations are still being worked on and should be rolled out Q4 of this year. Some of the security provisions are already on all modules delivered so it will be a seamless changeover

2. Investment. In order to make the project last, be something with continued support, and honestly be something good we needed outside investment. Investors are simply very hesitant to put down any kind of money without IP being protected. For this reason, along with security and a few other thing, we had to keep the source closed. It was either letting delivering something that was not very good and letting it die or closing the sources and getting investment to keep going.

3. More powerful mc-Script. mc-Script has become significantly more powerful than initially planned. The vast majority of applications written directly to the hardware can also be written in mc-Script. This makes open sourcing the firmware less beneficial.
 
We did not take any of these choices lightly and we believe that doing this was in the best interest of our backers. We are still making our APIs open. As suggested by another user we are also creating a centralized github organization to share scripts.

Thanks again for your support and please let us know if you have any other questions or suggestions. We look at them all seriously,

Regards,

-Tom-
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