[TenTec] Open Source for TT firmware

[Dick Green]

Much as I would love to get a peek at the Orion firmware source code, and
generally admire the open source movement, I don't think it's feasible or
realistic in this case. Unlike older generations of transceivers, the
Orion's firmware is really what defines the radio. The hardware is
relatively simple. It's the firmware that contains virtually all of Ten
Tec's Intellectual Property (IP) for this rig, and is the embodiment of what
I'm sure was a very large investment in research and development.

Publishing the firmware source code would allow other manufacturers to
quickly duplicate all of the Orion's unique and valuable features. It would
be trivial for them to gear up production of the basic hardware. The result
would be a look-alike made with cheap Asian labor that would effectively put
the innovator, Ten Tec, out of business.

Even if Ten Tec pasted the source with copyright notices, it would be pretty
simple to steal the key ideas through a process called "second sourcing."
The only way Ten Tec could prevent that would be by attempting to patent any
unique algorithms in the code. This is an iffy business at best, since it
could easily be argued that the key algorithms have been known for some
time. Further, it would take years to perfect the patent and many dollars to
defend it.

It could be argued that manufacturers have always been able to do the same
thing by popping the covers off competing radios and analyzing the circuits
(virtually all of them publish complete schematics.) However, I would
contend that copying the  complex hardware designs of the recent past
required far more capital investment and retooling than it would take to
duplicate the Orion if one had the source code in hand.

Releasing source code for EOL products is a nice idea, but it's likely that
even EOL firmware has algorithms that are still used in more current models.
Even if it doesn't, no sense giving the competition a leg up!

As a 32-year veteran of the software industry, I have mixed feelings about
the open-source movement. On the one hand, it makes life easier. On the
other hand, I don't see how software designers and engineers will be able to
make a living in an open-source world. Without that incentive, there won't
be anyone around to write the stuff! Kinda reminds me of free music
downloads. Really neat for the downloaders, but if the artists can't make
money for the creativity and effort, they won't do it anymore, or will
restrict their activities to live performances.

Sorry for the OT comment. Back to net...

73, Dick WC1M

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Martin Ewing [mailto:martin at aa6e.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 11:06 AM
> To: tentec at contesting.com
> Subject: [TenTec] Open Source for TT firmware
> 
> 
> (In another thread) Mark Erbaugh wrote:
>  >
>  > I'm not faulting TenTec in this decision. You can't really
> expect them to  > continuually pour engineering resources 
> into a project without a  > corresponding revenue stream. Now 
> that TT has ceased support for the  > Pegasus, I hope that 
> they will release the firmware source code to the  > general 
> ham public. I'm sure folks like Carl could add new features.
> 
> I would definitely approve of open sourcing the firmware for
> all TT radios, but 
> especially for EOL models.  I hope TT seriously looks at this 
> proposal.  Of 
> course, it's not a simple decision, but I see lots of good results.
> 
> -Much faster debugging if code is scanned by more expert
> eyes. -Possible user support for firmware (taking some load 
> off TT?) -User experimentation with new features that could 
> make their way back to the 
> official code if found worthy.
> -Very good PR with the community, strengthening the 
> user/vendor relationship 
> that is already a key feature of TT products.
> 
> Against it, though
> -Loss of proprietary content (if any?), which might extend to
> TT's commercial 
> product line.
> -Exposing TT's "spaghetti code" to the world (!)
> -Someone (TT?) having to play Linus Torvalds and decide what 
> gets into the 
> kernel (we do have a kernel don't we? ;-) and what doesn't. 
> -Requiring a specialized code development environment that 
> most people don't 
> have - possibly a whole breadboard radio, logic analyzers, 
> etc. -Need good documentation of firmware.  (not cheap) 
> -Firmware "forks" could confuse the marketplace. -Firmware 
> mods for general use have to be carefully tested against all 
> operating 
> modes - pretty intense stuff.
> 
> If we could pull it off, it would be a wonderful thing, but
> I'm not holding my 
> breath.
> 
> 73- Martin
> 
> p.s.  I'd like to see a radio with an inbuilt Linux OS
> environment - more 
> standardized and accessible for experimentation.
> 
>