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Draft Version 1.0 [March 2007]
Copyright (c) 2001-2007 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The GoGo Board is an open-source
project released under the General Public License (GPL) version 2.0. For more
information about the GPL license, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt
The GoGo Board was born after many years of experience doing
robotics learning activities in various countries. We realized that the scarcity
and high cost of robotics materials made it very hard to bring robotics to students,
especially in developing countries. The GoGo Board was designed to make
robotics learning activities more accessible to learners around the world. A
lot of attention has been given to making sure the components and the board
design allows the GoGo Board to be manufactured locally in various countries. Therefore,
as a design principle, we always put ease of construction first, rather than
including cutting-edge features which could make the parts hard to find and the
board difficult to assemble.
However, we realize that we cannot expect everyone to make
their own GoGo Boards. Therefore, encouraging businesses around the GoGo Board
is an essential component in its success. This document provides a guideline
for a “constructive business model” where people can do business with the GoGo
Board in ways that promote its goals.
You are encouraged to freely make changes to the GoGo Board
hardware and software. We only ask that you comply with the GPL license. The
most important part is to make sure the source of your creation is freely
available to the public – in other words, you should make public the source code,
printed circuit board layouts, important design notes, and assembly
instructions.
In addition to the above, here are some other considerations
that could help increase the value of your efforts:
Put your efforts into the GoGo Board. Instead of
making your own GoGo Board derivative, perhaps you can help improve the original
GoGo Board. Since this is an open-source project, the more help we get, the
better board we can have for everyone.
Submit your design. If you do create a new GoGo Board
variant, perhaps you can submit it to the GoGo Board community so that it can
be officially included on the GoGo Board website. The easiest way to do this is
to send a message to the GoGo Board mailing list (gogoboard@yahoogroups.com)
We are not against people making boards and selling them either
as kits or fully assembled boards. We only hope that those who sell GoGo Boards
will do it as a service and not primarily for profit. Here are some guidelines
for the commercialization of the GoGo Board:
Give out the source. Make sure all information about
the board is freely available and obvious to the public. When someone buys a
board, there should clearly be a link to the GoGo Board’s website on the
packaging. The GPL license (fully printed or a web link) should be obvious as
well.
Open for competition. You must accept the fact that
anyone can use the information you have provided to compete with you. For
example, one of your customers may decide to setup a new company that also make
and sell GoGo Boards in the same way as you. You may loose income or may even be
driven out of the business of selling GoGo Boards. This should be acceptable if
you consider the profits you can make from providing “services” as described
next.
Making profit from service. We
like to encourage a service business model for the GoGo Board. Consider the
Linux operating system as a model. Linux code (or the GoGo board hardware in this case) is not what generates the most income. Instead, it
is the service you can offer. Even if you do not sell boards, you can still
offer and charge for consultancy services. Services can come in forms like:
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Offering training.
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Teaching people how to assemble their own boards.
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Providing technical support.
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Educational and curriculum development (i.e. for
schools)
If you have any questions, the best resource for answers and
opinions is the GoGo Board mailing list (gogoboard@yahoogroups.com)
The GoGo Board team is not
responsible for any health, material, or any other damage to users or other
equipment. We do our best to build safe devices and test them thoroughly, but
you are responsible for making proper testing before using or producing it.
Some components, if misused or misconnected, might overheat or even explode. The
entire risk of using both the software and hardware is with you. All the
liability rules in the GPL license that applies to software also apply to the GoGo Board hardware.
1) I have a company that already sells many products to
schools, such as software and robotics boards. Can I incorporate some of the GoGo
Board’s ideas into my products?
If you incorporate any significant features of the GoGo
Board, you should make your project or product open-source and comply with the
GPL license. But what counts as a significant feature? It is the case if, for
example, you copied-and-pasted code from the board’s firmware, or copied pieces
of the PCB layout. Significant features would not include , for instance, general design ideas such as “a board with 8 sensor ports that
uses many same parts as the GoGo Board but with your own design”, or “a 4x6-inch
board for use in educational robotics.”
2) I made some modifications to the GoGo Board and now I
want to call it something else (i.e. John’s Board.) Can I do that?
Yes, as long as you acknowledge the GoGo Board in your
source and documentation, so that people know where it comes from. Also, as
mentioned in FAQ (1), you must release you design under the GPL license as
well.
3) I want to start selling some GoGo Boards to schools in
my town, but I’m sure that as soon as I start it, other people will do the same
and I’ll lose my business. What can I do?
Nothing, really. This is an
open-source project and there is nothing you can or should do to prevent other
people from selling it. Your competitor can even copy some of the modifications
you did to the board and sell it.
We hope the GoGo Board will be seen as a “service” business
and not just a “product.” In the service model, the more GoGo Boards there are
out there, the more business there is for you. This way it does not matter who
sells how many boards. See the “Making profit from service” section above.
5) I want to develop an add-on product to the GoGo Board,
but I don’t want to make it open-source. Can I do that?
Yes, you can, provided your product does not contain any of
the board’s code or designs, and you do not claim to be part of the GoGo Board
project. We will eventually have a “marketplace” area on the website pointing
the community to related products.
5) Well, I read all this stuff, but I don’t care. I’ll
sell the GoGo Board, make a profit, and won’t include
any of the sources. What will happen to me?
The open-source community is based on good citizenship and
mutual trust. This has proven to be a sustainable and healthy system to fuel
innovation, generate jobs, and offer more accessible products to the
population. However, when violations happen, here are some examples of actions
that the open-source community can take against those who are disrespectful:
Public Condemnation. The
community can condemn these companies or individuals by spreading out the word
describing their wrongdoings on websites, message boards, or any other media.
Legal Action. This is taken
by the copyright owner of the open-source project. In the case of the GoGo Board, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
is the copyright owner. MIT has vast resources for taking legal action, which
they are keen to utilize in any country. Once a legal action has started, the institution will follow through its
procedures, and the GoGo Board community cannot stop
or influence it.
6) What if so many people make their own versions of the
GoGo Board and make the original GoGo Board less popular. Isn’t that bad for
the GoGo Board?
No. On one hand, we will be happy if someone can do a better
job. On the other hand, we envision a situation where people would help with
the GoGo Board development rather than just competing
against each other. Also, as long as the GoGo Board community keeps producing new
hardware and software releases that respond to people’s requests, we believe
there will always be a place for the GoGo Board.
7) I want to setup a
business around the GoGo Board. Is that a good
business decision? Will I make money? Do you have any suggestions?
Running a business is normally harder than it seems. That’s
why many people create a “business plan” before actually starting the company,
to check if the numbers add up. For example, often overlooked expenses and
costs such as post-sales support, taxes, and defects, can have a big impact on the
viability of the company. In various countries, Management schools offer free
or low-cost services to help people create business plans – you should take
advantage of it.
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