MegaSquirt and GNU

[Bruce Bowling]

A few points on MegaSquirt, GNU license, and the like:

1) At this point, pretty much all of the mail traffic is on the Yahoo mail 
list, not on the EFI332 list. This was done because the bandwidth of the MS 
project overwhelmed those who just wanted info on the EFI332. The Yahoo 
list is totally separated from the DIY-EFI list.

2) All of the schematics, code, etc. is hosted on the www.bgsoflex.com 
site, which is a private site decoupled from the DIY-EFI list (I pay $14.00 
a month out of my pocket for jumpline.com to host this).

3) Since all of the schematics, code, etc are up on the Internet, free for 
anyone to duplicate, we realistically cannot stop people from taking the 
schematics, building up boards, and marketing it as something else (like 
MegaJect or UltraSquirt, etc.). The tongue-in-cheek comment on "our 
lawyers....:" is there to discourage those who see dollar signs in their 
eyes and take the design and market it for hundreds of dollars based on our 
sweat and effort without letting us know they are doing this. In reality, 
making up boards and selling them is easy, but the required support 
afterwards is tremendous. And, I will be quite angry if some idiot out 
there takes the schematic, builds up units, sells them to the universe, and 
then points end-customers back to me for support - this is when my 
consulting rates will be priced at $1K per hour.

4) I have had no less than 100 offers from various people requesting to 
begin mass-producing the units. As I tell each of them: it is too early to 
even think about marketing this as a commercial product - there needs to be 
a large tested install base before even contemplating this. And, 
constraints on things like support, quality, etc, must be addressed way in 
advance.

5) The original goal of MS was to develop a simple and inexpensive EFI 
system. One part of "this" was to prove that the $1,000.00 ECU units really 
only consists of around $100.00 of parts (at the most). I still scratch my 
head when I see MSD 6A  ignition boxes for sale for $135.00, and the 
cheapest EFI system at $500.00+, when they contain almost the same parts. 
Trust me - aftermarket manufacturers know about MegaSquirt, and I would not 
be surprised if we start seeing inexpensive EFI systems (of their own 
design) showing up from them by the end of the year - this is a tremendous 
market. When this happens, then we all win, and the MS system has 
vindicated its existence.

6) I do not know anything about the GNU/GPL License, and right at the 
moment (due to the group purchase) I do not have the time to research what 
this implies (maybe people can educate me on this), so I cannot comment if 
this is something that MegaSquirt adopts. From what I gather, the MS 
project is already a GNU-like project, without the GNU stamp. The current 
focus is the ship out the 400+ group purchase kits, and help everyone 
assemble their kits and install them on vehicles, which includes developing 
detailed assembly and tuning documentation.

- Bruce

>------------------------------
>
>Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 09:25:56 -0800
From: Brian L Massey <blocklm at juno.com>
>Subject: Re: new list policy regarding projects
>
>On Tue, 29 Jan 2002 23:51:25 -0600 steve ravet <sravet at arm.com> writes:
> > Projects that don't adopt a GNU license are considered to be
> > commercial projects subject to the list rules regarding commercial
>activity.
>
>Sad, but I suppose inevitable given the present moral climate. I'm a
>little puzzled why you didn't also post this to the efi332 list.
>
>Perhaps it's because if you do, it will dawn on people that Megasquirt
>will either have to adopt a GPL license, or be considered commercial. If
>the former happens, that means anyone can copy their board design and
>sell them assembled for profit if they wish. That's what the GPL allows,
>you know. I wonder how BruceB & AlG are going to feel about that? :)
>
>Perhaps I misunderstood the portion of their FAQ at:
>         www.bgsoflex.com/megasquirtfaq.html
>that goes like this...
>
> >"Q: Can I sell your system or market it commercially without letting you
>know about it?
> > A: Yeah, right. My lawyers are better than your lawyers..."
>
>Like they say, "be careful what you wish for".
>
>BLM

- Bruce

---------------------------------------------
              Bruce A. Bowling
          bbowling at earthlink.net
    http://home.earthlink.net/~bbowling
---------------------------------------------

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