[OpenDesign] Hello + Re: Bram Geenen

Dr. Peter Troxler trox at fabfolk.com
Tue Mar 27 20:28:31 UTC 2012 

Hi Bram, Stuart

let me chime in on this

first I think there is a distinction between sharing a design (result) and sharing (while) designing.

you're obviously talking about the first one

one rough thought of mine is, that sharing a design is not only sharing the "design file(s)" but also the design rationale -- the WHY of a design, not only the WHAT

It is very simple in software -- you'll find comment lines like that in many GPL files (the lines starting with // are comments)

> 	// If no custom options for text are set, let's bail
> 	// get_header_textcolor() options: HEADER_TEXTCOLOR is default, hide text (returns 'blank') or any hex value
> 	if ( HEADER_TEXTCOLOR == get_header_textcolor() )
> 		return;
> 	// If we get this far, we have custom styles. Let's do this.
> 	?>

> 	…

this is stuff you won't necessarily find in a say .stl file … but it is extremely valuable to understand, what the thinking of the designer was when creating the code

I feel that's where we need clever ideas in open design to make "how a design works" and design decisions understandable to non-designers

/ Peter


On 27 Mar 2012, at 21:57 , Bram Geenen wrote:

> Hi Stuart, thanks for posing those questions!
> I agree that there is a need for streamlining the process of sharing a design. Sometimes I worry that standardizing file formats reduces variety and possibilities, but it could help out a lot. For now I mostly focus on improving the process of sharing and collaborating itself, by creating an intuitive and inspiring envrionment for collaborative projects. instead of standardizing formats.
> Our collaboration platform hopes to be of great use for designers, but we also want to attract 'non-designers' since we think that a great variety of people with different skills and knowledge will stimulate innovation.
> What is exactly the difference between open hardware and open source hardware? 
> Best regards,
> Bram
> 
> 
> On Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 2:35 PM, Stuart Childs <stuchilds at googlemail.com> wrote:
> Hi Bram, all,
> 
> I am a designer / artist / [the list goes on]  living in the UK and have been working with open hardware + sharing my designs for a few years now. I don't claim to be an expert - more of an enthusiast that would like to learn more about the legalities / implications of open hardware, open design and what 'the community' is doing. 
> 
> Bram, your online collaboration platform idea sounds really cool, is the idea to make the process of sharing / opening a design project easier and more efficient for designers?
> 
> I think that sometimes it can take a while to share a design, getting the files in the right formats and documented properly is a process that is a bit clunky, and not standardised. This means we have all types of 'open' designs shared in different ways, in different places, to different degrees of 'openness'.
> 
> A standard format, or place to do this, as well as a streamlining the sharing and collaboration process (a more user-friendly git for hardware?) sounds like a good thing to be working on.
> 
> There are of course websites like Thingiverse (and others, can anybody list others that they use?) 
> 
> Does anybody have a solution / platform that they are completely happy/satisfied with?
> 
> 
> Other thoughts I have been having, and would be curious to know of other people's thoughts about is the notion of open source hardware vs. open hardware.
> 
> - has the transition from software to hardware worked well for open source licensing?
> 
> - does hardware provide us with different challenges to licensing and sharing issues that cause problems with open source licensing?
> 
> - can hardcore FOSS / FLOSS ideals have adverse effects on the design process, or the opposite? [for example, I am more inclined to use the term 'open hardware' more than 'open source hardware' ]
> 
> - does anybody have examples or lawsuits / legal issues that have arisen over open source hardware?
> 
> Looking forward to hearing back, conversing with you and sharing ideas on here.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Stuart
> 
> 
> On 24 Mar 2012, at 12:00, opendesign-request at lists.okfn.org wrote:
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>> Today's Topics:
>> 
>>   1.  Introducing myself (Bram Geenen)
>>   2. Hello from California (Landon Blake)
>> 
>> 
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:40:19 +0100
>> From: Bram Geenen <info at studiogeenen.com>
>> Subject: [OpenDesign]  Introducing myself
>> To: opendesign at lists.okfn.org
>> Message-ID:
>> 	<CAOeLn1L0L_RzazN=apvaO9MSkk9NnE==wd0CqjPdhMEfwNri2g at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>> 
>> Hi!
>> My name is Bram Geenen. I am a product designer from Amsterdam.
>> Together with friends I'm developing an online collaboration platform that
>> also allows people to open up their projects, using creative commons and
>> open source hardware licenses.
>> We also keep a blog (www.open-designism.com), and  are regularly hosting
>> meetups about this subject.
>> 
>> Looking forward to be part of this working group, to be able to share my
>> knowledge and experience, and of course to learn a lot from you all!
>> 
>> Bram Geenen
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>> ------------------------------
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>> Message: 2
>> Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:44:24 -0700
>> From: Landon Blake <sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [OpenDesign] Hello from California
>> To: opendesign at lists.okfn.org
>> Message-ID:
>> 	<CALJ1OBWhOm-sMJ8hO8-RUQtQ-vPfqnvg9zjKZwivVeron_dwcw at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>> 
>> My name is Landon Blake. I'm a land surveyor and mapping specialist in
>> Stockton, California. I'm also a hobby web designer and graphic
>> designer.
>> 
>> I've been a long-time advocate of open source software, open file
>> formats, and open data. I look forward to learning from and
>> collaborating with other members of the mailing list.
>> 
>> Landon
>> 
>> 
>> 
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>> End of OpenDesign Digest, Vol 1, Issue 11
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