[Elecraft] Firmware development

[David Gilbert]

This whole thread has suffered from a confluence of two separate issues.

One is whether or not open source software in general is quality stuff, 
and even "derivations" of open source software require that the 
underlying bits represent good design and good code.  Some here have 
essentially claimed that all open source software is undependable ... 
which I think can be proven to be a false impression.

The other issue is whether or not Elecraft or any other company would 
want to open their source code, whether based upon open source elements 
or not.  Elecraft obviously would want to keep their software 
proprietary because we already expect that it has given them competitive 
advantages in some areas.  At least as importantly in my mind is the 
likelihood that opening up their software would make Elecraft vulnerable 
to customers who trashed their system with buggy third party versions of 
the software and then expect Elecraft to help them recover it, or to 
otherwise address the problem.  It's a no win situation for Elecraft, 
and ultimately for the rest of us.

And by the way, some open source licenses require adapters to make any 
derivations they create to also be open source.  I believe the 
underlying license for WSJT-X to be like that.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 11/27/2020 2:09 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
> The phrase "run a DERIVATION of an open source operating system" is key.
>
> It is just a basis for their software.  I would bet not a one of them 
> would open up the full source code used on their hardware. They might 
> reveal which open source operating system they based their software 
> on, but not the details of how it interacts with hardware and other 
> software.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR