This sounds more like Josef and perhaps the author have a romantic idea about open source but now dislike the realities. There’s no way you can get people to pinky swear to not use the rights in the license you chose. There are so many cases of millions or billions of dollars being generated through companies built on open source software. To not expect the same of hardware is unrealistic.
I’m not an expert on synthesizers but it sounds more like reverse engineering than building from open source and permissive licenses. I don’t think that’s the right lens to think about the reproductions.
If Prusa doesn’t want this then they need to close their licenses and stop talking about being open. That’s ok, it’s their business after all. I just expect that becoming “source available” will have its own set of thorns for the brand that has been built.
The irony of course is that the GPL was started due to…
closed source printers.
> This sounds more like Josef and perhaps the author have a romantic idea about open source but now dislike the realities.
You think probably one of the most famous open source hardware designers has "romantic ideas about open source" and somehow you, dear random HN commenter, are wiser?
It's more like: Josef has been trying to carry the mantle of open source hardware and has finally had enough of manufacturers leeching off him, making piles of money, not contributing anything back, and worse: the 3d printing community not just tolerating it, but gleefully funding the people not contributing anything back.
People get riled up when Linksys or Netgear won't release source code, but Ender and others copy Prusa's designs and...everyone cheers and runs out to buy it.
People are riled up when Linksys or Netgear refuse to follow the GPL they themselves use to build their products. They’re using and modifying GPL code and not publishing it. They’re supposed to do that.
In this case Prusa is riled up because people are following the license for their source code and design. They make 1:1 copies using GPL3 code.
This isn’t about wisdom, it’s about selecting the correct license and understanding the repercussions. This is why AGPL exists. This is why hardware specific licenses exist.
I don’t mind them going closed source, personally. However, It’s important to be clear that using GPL code to build and distribute devices is 100% in line with the license.
We all can agree that we get his frustration and we join him in sentiment, I mean, I own an Ender printer, I'd love to buy a Prusa but where I live they cost 3 times more, and THAT'S the true spirit of open source, it's working "as intended", he should be grateful (not the greatest word but I can't think of another one, you get what I want to say) that people are cloning his work, if it wasn't for the clones I wouldn't be in the world of 3D printing and hopefully one day I'll be able to own a Prusa.
This sounds more like Josef and perhaps the author have a romantic idea about open source but now dislike the realities. There’s no way you can get people to pinky swear to not use the rights in the license you chose. There are so many cases of millions or billions of dollars being generated through companies built on open source software. To not expect the same of hardware is unrealistic.
I’m not an expert on synthesizers but it sounds more like reverse engineering than building from open source and permissive licenses. I don’t think that’s the right lens to think about the reproductions.
If Prusa doesn’t want this then they need to close their licenses and stop talking about being open. That’s ok, it’s their business after all. I just expect that becoming “source available” will have its own set of thorns for the brand that has been built.
The irony of course is that the GPL was started due to… closed source printers.