[LINK] Open Source PC Design

[swilson at lockstep.com.au]

stephen at melbpc.org.au Thursday, May 29, 2008 wrote: 

> "The idea of open source manufacture is taking shape, and we're going
> to see more .. 'open source' hardware .."
...
> Yes .. open source engineering .. a few peak designs, and made everywhere.
...
> Open source car designs may finally transcend commercial car design idiocy.
...
> And I'd like to buy a car that everyone made simply because they wanted to.

You're not serious are you?  ;-)

Leaving aside the debates about quality, commercial idiocy etc. which often provide the motivation, Open Source Software is only possible because the capital cost of writing software is very low, and the manufacturing cost essentially zero.  So you can give it away.  And collaboration is easy because the main design tools are mental, and therefore free.  

But who would manufacture open source cars?  How would the designs and outputs be homologated (approved by regulatory authorities)?  How would one-off home-made cars be registered? 

Also, I don't think you can create a car these days without tens of thousands of dollars worth of CAD/CAM software.  So it's not like software where one can still (in fact I say, *should*) design with pencil and paper.  

Cheers, 

Steve Wilson
www.lockstep.com.au.