View source for Open Source Hardware

Open Source Hardware was inspired by the Free Software Movement, which introduced collaborative design principles and on-line open-source libraries. However, Open Source Hardware also hearkens back to the do-it-yourself, hobbyist culture which surrounded the emergence of the first personal computers. Among the original "free hardware" designs (before it was so called) were Lee Felsensteins's "Pennywhistle Modem" and "Tom Swift Terminal", which he conceived as low-cost, easy-to-build alternatives to more expensive proprietary products, and for which he distributed the specifications free of charge.

Open Source Hardware involves assembling libraries of open source microcomputer chip designs. Given the difficulty and expense of design and fabrication of today's extremely complex chips, the open source hardware movement accepts the use of certain proprietary, closed-source, elements as part of the open-source approach. These elements are called "Intellectual Property Cores" (or "IP Cores" for short).

==Wikipedia articles==
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_hardware  Wikipedia article on Open Source Hardware
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Felsenstein Wikipedia article on Lee Felsenstein

==Convivial Tools Encyclopedia==
*http://conviviality.ouvaton.org/article.php3?id_article=44 Open Source Hardware
*http://conviviality.ouvaton.org/article.php3?id_article=39 Lee Felsenstein

[[Category:Open Design Concepts]]