Open Source isn’t a new idea…

To most of us the term ‘Open Source’ is associated with computer software. Back in the early day’s source code was distributed along with hardware and you were free to alter it, add new functions and sort bugs as you went along. After a few legal kerfuffles during the 1980’s software developers looked into copyright licenses that were designed to encourage, instead of preventing the copying of their source code. The stage was set, and then along came Open Source Hardware a few decades later just to confuse everyone regarding the terminology.

However, did you know that the origins of Open Source and the innovation it is designed to inspire can be traced back to an 18th-century idea? Remember Benjamin Franklin? The chap flying a kite in a thunderstorm? He was one of the founding fathers of the USA and also an avid inventor, he invented Bifocals, the lightning rod, a three-wheel clock, the Franklin Stove, swimming fins and lots more besides. The thing is, he didn’t patent any of his clever inventions as he considered them too important not to share, reportedly stating:

 ‘As we benefit from the inventions of others, we should be glad to share our own…freely and gladly’

Access All Areas

The open source design movement we are aware of today shares the same principles that Franklin desired all those years ago, access to designs, products and ideas that can be used by anyone for any purpose, as long as those using those items then share their creations with the rest of the world, that’s the key. Open source innovation is changing the way we think about creativity as no longer do we have to create something new to actually be creative. We can use things that exist already via open source platforms and produce something new, a new derivative of perhaps several previous inventions, that’s what innovation is today.

With the Open Source approach, we are no longer the inactive recipients of the creations produced by powerful companies and the geniuses out there, we can now add to and accelerate the creative process. The definition of intellectual property and the singular concentration of that is changing along with how we define innovation thanks to the open source movement. The ownership of the idea and the product isn’t the eventual goal anymore, but, instead, the desire is for the distribution of creativity and the innovation that is born from that to proliferate and grow.

The Potential of Freedom

Back in the 18th century, Mr Franklin noticed that the only way to realise the full potential of his creations was to set them free, not only were they his initial creations but they then went on to belong to everyone in the world. Whether the people of that period were as aware of this freedom as we are now in our super-connected world is a different matter. The fact still remains, you can take Franklin's designs of yesteryear and create something new with them by combining them with other Open Source creations or with your own ideas perhaps? Of course, not everything is as simple as grabbing someone’s product and claiming it as your own, as with most things, some methods of control and protection are prerequisite. There are licensing stipulations that surround the Open Source movement that you will have to negotiate and comply with should you decide to take advantage of Open Source development, which is only fair to those who came before you.

Benjamin Franklin probably couldn’t have foreseen the way the people of today would communicate on a global scale and the ‘open-all-hours’ digital society we exist in where progress is unstoppable. You can consider this though, in the centuries to come, will someone be writing about your creations and the impact you and your Open Source approach to innovation had on the world?

Learn More about Open Source.

Open Source Hardware? What’s that?

Why Open Source?