Peter Graf writes: > > Id go one better: The place to start, of course, is to make the Qx0 > > designs public and free so other people can develop and improve them, > > and in some cases, build their own. A "free" computer to run free > > software on. Just the thing. > > The obstacle is production. If I publish software, it automatically > exists, if I publish hardware it does not. Every single piece of hardware > must be built (in series production if it's going to be affordable) and at > the complexity and massive costs of the Qx0, this means commercial > production. > > Unfortunately one can't materialize mainboards by a uploading to a website > or burning a CD.
All that is pretty obvious, of course - and neatly side-steps the issue ;) Equally obvious to me, however, is that a /design/ is not a physical thing, but it is essential information to understand the physical thing; how it works, how it can be fixed if there is a problem, how to improve it, how to create addons and expansions, and how to build your own if you are that way inclined. (Presumably, even you had to build a few one-off prototypes to test your design before going to production.) Now, as an owner of a Q60 - a considerable investment, I would feel a lot happier if I knew the designs were available for many of the reasons mentioned above. You might not always be around, you might loose interest, or you might (heaven forbid!) decide to use the monopoly position you enjoy with your closed, proprietory architecture, to my disadvantage. Thered be precious little I could do about that. But luckily it need never come to that because, as you suggest, there is another way: You would make your designs and firmware "open" and make your profit on the "added value" thing! (I am assuming, of course, that you respect other people's intellectual property rights as you do your own, and would never expect others to do what you would not wish to do yourself.) Per _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
