Re: changes made/thanks (re hardware designs)

["Adam 'WeirdArms' Wiggins" <awiggins@cse.unsw.edu.au>]

> I work hard to write precise and careful statements; would you please
> read them precisely and carefully?
> 
	I think the problem is what we are after is clear legal knowledge
and a lawyer you are not so its easy for a lot of us to not find your
comments helpful.

	Also you are not always clear about the issues. Ie what you
believe is or is not copywritable. Ie are schematics copywritable, its
been indicated they are. If you believe this to be otherwise let us know.
Also the issue of whether a 'design idea' can be copywrited and thus
covered by a license seems irrelevant. Just as someone can take the
schematics and make a PCB layout out of it, a person can take GPL software
and make a system out of it with non-gpl components. Also just as someone
can take a PCB layout and redo it without using any parts of the original
via reverse generation of the PCB into a netlist and then redoing the PCB
(and thus not violating any copyright) someone can take GPL code and
rewrite it. The point is they most likely won't since its wasted effort
and just like business is started to accept GPL'd software they will
accept Free Hardware Design Licened works. 

	At least thats the idea. I think the general feeling from our
community is that you are too busy finding problems with our goals and not
helping us look for solutions on how to adapt the GPL free software model
to free hardware. While it is acceptable that you might not be interested
in this most of us would probably rather say its not your ballpark then
for you to trivialise our efforts and distract from finding the solutions
to the problems facing the formation of a free hardware model that a
growing number of us are looking for.

	Before you reply please not that I mean no disrespect, I'm just
trying to be productivly critical (something I'm not the best at all the
time). While open hardware specification is important i think it falls
short of free hardware design and that the free software philosophy has
more to offer to those of us doing hardware design then most not into the
hardware game give credit for.

	While hardware is not like software its much closer to it then
books or music (relating to licencing copyright comments made). Hardware
design like software design is an evolutionary process that I beleive
current corperate models restrict the groth of by keeping closed to
maintains their respective 'edges' over their competitors.

	A portion of this free hardware movement are interested in working
on designs and making sure we get the improvements back so that hopefully
a high quality designs (up to the standard of current commercial
offerings) are freely avaliable to the community at large (regardless of
the ease at which they can be applied or manufactured).

	I'll stop waffling now ;)

	Cheers Adam "Yet another idealistic undergraduate"