开源世界的未来

    在开源项目中，品牌和知识产权问题也变得更为复杂。如果设计向所有人开放，那这些设计的开发者就无法确保成品的品质保持一致。同时，企业要跟踪这些成品并从中赢利也更加困难。开源要求企业对协作采取与平时完全不同的态度。这类企业必须重新考虑产品的价值如何实现与分配，并在透明度和知识产权保护之间进行权衡。

    尽管存在这些挑战，我们仍深信，开源模式在硬件领域有巨大的潜力尚待开发。想象一下，如果汽车厂商与业余爱好者（如著名的敏捷技术团队WIKISPEED）甚至致力于发展行业竞争优势的小型第三方团队结成稳定合作关系会是何种情形。这些小型团队如果能获得硬件和设计，就能带来新鲜的创意。作为回报，他们还能运用大企业的基础设施、机器设备和专业技术。我们坚信，这种模式能推动相关各方的学习进程，鼓励大家针对行业最艰巨的挑战开发解决方案（比如，开发更省油的、价格低廉的汽车）。

    这种互利关系能创造这样一种情境，参与各方在为这一组织贡献自己技能的同时，也能利用网络中其他人的技能。我们深信，开源硬件是迈向一种新型经济互动模式的关键一步，这种模式基于信任关系，能为参与各方都创造可贵价值。

    译者：清远

    Branding and intellectual property issues are also more complicated in open sourced projects. If designs are open to anyone, then the owner of those designs cannot ensure uniform quality for the finished products. And it is more difficult for firms to track and monetize the finished goods themselves. Open sourcing requires a fundamentally different attitude than firms typically take towards collaboration. These firms must reconceive how a product's worth can be captured and distributed, and weigh the tradeoffs between transparency and intellectual property protection.

    Despite these challenges, we believe open source models have significant untapped potential when it comes to hardware. Imagine, for example, if automakers formed ongoing relationships with hobbyists (like Team WIKISPEED) or even small third parties working on the edges of their industry. These smaller groups, if given access to hardware and designs, could bring fresh ideas to the table. In return, these groups would have access to the larger firm's infrastructure, machines, and expertise. We believe that such a model could advamce learning for all and encourage the development of solutions to some of the industry's toughest challenges (for example, creating more fuel efficient cars at affordable prices).

    This mutually beneficial relationship creates a scenario where each participant can tap into the skills of others in the network while contributing their own skills to the mix. We believe open source hardware is a step towards a model of economic interactions based on trusting relationships, a model which can create valuable results for everyone involved.