| Name / Ort: | Graham Seaman, UK |
| E-Mail: | graham@belegost.mit.edu |
| Zur Person: | Member of the Open Collector project |
| Links: |
http://www.opencollector.org |
| Projekt : | Free hardware
design - past, present, future |
| Datum/Zeit: | 29.4. / 17:00 |
| Abstract: | Free software is only one of a number
of free projects that have arisen in the past. These
projects tend to follow the creation of new technologies.
Whether they persist after the commercialization of the
technology depends both on the nature of the technology
and the people and organization behind that project.
Previous free hardware design projects include the
homebrew computer designs of the 70s and the
university-based IC design systems of the 80s. The new
free hardware designs have been made possible by the
introduction of ever larger integrated circuits and
programmable logic devices, which have also made it
possible to create a market in IC designs independent
from manufacture. To survive past the consolidation of
this market, free hardware design has to overcome a
number of practical challenges, including defining its
links with manufacture, finding a viable licensing
system, and clarifying its relationship with free
software. This presentation is given in english. |