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Alongside with DIN SPEC 3105-2 “Open source hardware — Part 2: Community-based assessment” [9] this standard is the first standard published by DIN e.V. under a free/open license. Following the principles of open source, anybody can contribute to its further development online. Please refer to https://gitlab.com/OSEGermany/OHS to review the current state of ongoing processes and to contribute.

1    Scope1   Scope

This standard delivers an unambiguous and operational definition of the concept of open source hardware and breaks it down into objective criteria for judging the compliance of a piece of hardware with this definition.

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This document builds upon the OSHWA Definition 1.0 [6] and the Open Source Definition [8].

2    Normative 2   Normative references

There are no normative references in this document.

3    Terms 3   Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

DIN and DKE maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:—      

3.1  piece  piece of hardware

any discrete (i.e. countable) physical artefact

...

  • Free Software Definition [14];
  • Devian Free Software Guidelines [15];
  • Open Source Definition [8];
  • Definition of Free Cultural Works [16];
  • The Open Definition [17];
  • OSHWA Definition [6]. 

3.3 open 3   open source hardware OSH

hardware for which a free right of any use belongs to the general public and whose documentation (3.8) is completely available and freely accessible on the Internet

...

Note 2 to entry:   Such a piece of hardware (3.1) is therewith referred to as a piece of open source hardware (OSH), may be certified under terms defined by DIN SPEC 3105‑2, and labelled accordingly.

3.4 four 4   four rights of open source hardware

...

Note 2 to entry:   The four rights of open source hardware are a translation of the “four essential freedoms” stated in the Free Software Definition [14] to the context of physical artefacts. These freedoms have been reinterpreted by the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) as the possibility to “study, modify, distribute, make, and sell” hardware. This document reproduces the wording of the OSHWA, where selling is seen as a way of distribution among others.

3.4.1  Right  Right to Study

effective possibility to access sufficient information to understand the design rationale of the piece of open source hardware (3.3) and its expected behaviour along its life cycle (3.10)

Note 1 to entry:   The right to study includes access to the documentation (3.8) of the considered piece of open source hardware (3.3)

3.4.2  Right  Right to Modify

effective possibility to edit the documentation (3.8) and therewith to alter the design of the piece of open source hardware (3.3)

Note 1 to entry:   The right to modify presupposes the right to study (3.4.1).

3.4.3  Right  Right to Make

effective possibility to operate all activities belonging to the life cycle (3.10) of the piece of open source hardware (3.3)

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Note 1 to entry:   The right to make presupposes the right to study (3.4.1).

3.4.4  Right  Right to Distribute

effective possibility to give or sell the piece of open source hardware (3.3) made based on the original or a modified version of the documentation (3.8)

  1. the original or a modified version of the documentation (3.8) and
  2. the piece of open source hardware (3.3) made based on the original or a modified version of the documentation (3.8)

3.5  technology technology

category of production processes used to make the piece of open source hardware (3.3) or a set of physical features embedded in a function of the piece of open source hardware (3.3)

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document that specifies requirements applying to the documentation (3.8) of open source hardware (3.3) from a given technology (3.5)

3.7  recipients recipients

group of people addressed by the documentation (3.8)

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network of successive and parallel activities required or implied by the realization of the piece of open source hardware (3.3)

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4   Symbols and abbreviations 

Abb.

Term

OSH

Open Source Hardware

TsDC

Technology-specific Documentation Criteria

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5   Requirements

5.1   General

The required documentation for documentation is the set of digital documents enabling recipients to execute all activities of the life cycle of a piece of OSH is derived resulting from :

  1. the corresponding TsDC,
  2. the addressed Recipients.[R(72] 

A TsDC defines a set of documents that splits into three subsets regarding to the three Life Cycle phases they are relevant for. The documentation may cover less then three Life Cycle phases, while covering the first phase (implementation), in compliance with the Recipients, is the minimum considered necessary[R(73]  for a Piece of Hardware to qualify as OSH in the sense of the Four Rights of Open Source.

Open Source Hardware in this sense may be certified, by following DIN SPEC 3105-2, and labeled accordingly.

As a Piece of Hardware can consist of other Pieces of Hardware, an assembly can be covered by a set of Documentations and thus a set of TsDC’s may apply.

6    Updating and upgrading procedure for this standard

the original contribution of the authors. The documentation of a piece of OSH contains sufficient and necessary information for the recipients to understand and operate all these activities without requiring any external document that is not publicly available. Required information can be partly provided by a reference to a publicly available document as long as it provides no less information than originally required.

The Documentation of a piece of OSH bears references of:

  1. its authors;
  2. its licensing terms;
  3.  a functional description of the piece of OSH, e.g. what functions it is supposed to deliver, what is the problem it solves, for whom, etc.;
  4. a mention of all applying Technology-specific Documentation Criteria;
  5. all documents required by the mentioned Technology-specific Documentation Criteria;
  6. a name or working title given to the Piece of Hardware;

A piece of hardware Section 3.3 states: “A Piece of Hardware can only qualify as OSH if all the Technologies technologies it contains are covered by Technologytechnology-specific Documentation Criteriadocumentation criteria.

In other words, case a Piece piece of Hardware embedding hardware contains a Technology technology that is not covered by any approved TsDC can only qualify as OSH as soon as a new TsDC has been created and approved[JB74] [D(W75] [M(76] [M(77] , so all the Technologies embedded by the Piece of Hardware are covered by an approved TsDC.

[process description; still needs to be clarified with DIN]

Endnotes

i This document refers to physical objects as “pieces of hardware” since the word “hardware” cannot be used alone since it[R(78]  is not countable in English. As a consequence, it is not correct to write “a hardware”, the same way it is not correct to write “a water” or “a equipment”. Equally, it is not correct to say “how many hardwares”, but rather “how much hardware” like “how much water”. [R(79] Because this document needs to refer to specific products, prototypes, or artefacts that qualify as OSH, it needs to make the word “hardware” countable. Using “piece of” allows to make of “hardware” a countable quantity. It makes it possible to write sentences like “how many pieces of hardware[D(W80]  have been certified?”

ii Paper documents [ZL81] [M(82] do not qualify as Documentation. The first reason is that they are not editable[R(83] . Making modifications to paper documents requires reproducing the whole document. The second reason is that OSH is an Internet phenomenon and only really make sense in this context.

iii The Four Rights of Open Source are a translation of the “four essential freedoms” stated in the Free Software Definition (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html.en) to the context of physical artefacts. These freedoms have been reinterpreted by the OSHWA as the possibility to “study, modify, distribute, make, and sell[ZL84] ” hardware. This document reproduces the wording of the OSHWA, where selling is seen as a way of distribution.

iv Conversion from a file format to another (especially conversion from edition formats [e.g. docx] to export formats [e.g. pdf]) is often bound to information losses[ZL85] . Converting a FreeCAD file into STEP is transforming a fully parametrized constraints- and feature-based model in to a static network of points (mesh) and losing the ability to edit the shape that is represented by the model or the mesh.

v Documentation does not only facilitate hardware replication or “making”. It also facilitates hardware operation, maintenance, repair, recycling, etc. This document makes no difference between the relative importance of these activities and considers them as equal. Therefore, in this document, the Four Rights of Open Source are not restricted to the sole hardware production phase and covers the whole hardware Life Cycle.

 

Annex 1 - List of approved [M(86] TsDC

<some text>

 

...

Title

...

Covered Technology

...

Version

...

Location

...

 

...

Title

...

Mechanical component

...

V1.0        

...

Hyperlink

...

 

...

Title

...

Mechanical assembly

...

V1.0        

...

Hyperlink[M(87] 

...

Title

...

Electronic component

...

V1.0        

...

Hyperlink

...

Title

...

Electronic assembly

...

V1.0

...

Hyperlink

...

 

...

Title

...

Mechatronic assembly

...

V1.0        

...

Hyperlink

...

Title

...

Fluid mechanics

...

V1.0        

...

Hyperlink

...

Title

...

Textile

...

V1.0

...

Hyperlink

...

 

...

...

...

...

...

 

TsDC yet, documentation is to be created to the best knowledge of the authors.

NOTE   Paper documents do not qualify as documentation. The first reason is that they are not editable and shareable in the same way as original digital documents (without further processing). Making modifications to paper documents requires reproducing the whole document. The second reason is that OSH is an internet phenomenon and only really make sense in this context.

5.2   Documentation release

A Documentation Release makes mention of:

  1. a release date;
  2. a release number unambiguously identifying a version of the documentation;
  3. a version of the piece of OSH to which the documentation release applies.

5.3   Access

The Documentation is deemed as accessible when:

  • it is published
    • in its original editable file format and,
    • in an export file format that
      • is of well-established use in the corresponding field of technology,
      • can be processed by software that is generally accessible to the recipients, and#
      • contains no less information than the original editable file format1.
  • the means of downloading it via the Internet is well-publicized2 and neither involve any charge or any moderation potentially conflicting with the principles of non-discrimination against persons or groups and non-discrimination against fields of endeavour.
  • the means of downloading it via the Internet is constantly active from the Release date and without interruption. 

...

Conversion from a file format to another (especially conversion from edition formats (e.g. docx) to export formats (e.g. pdf) is often bound to information losses. Converting a FreeCAD file into STEP is transforming a fully parametrized constraints- and feature-based model into a static network of points (mesh) and losing the ability to edit the shape that is represented by the model or the mesh.

In this context, well-publicized means that, inter alia, patent offices worldwide will be able to find and retrieve the documentation via the internet.

5.4   Valid Technology-specific documentation criteria

Valid TsDCs:

  • clearly refer to and extends DIN SPEC 3105‑1 without superseding it;
  • provide technology-specific requirements for all phases of the Life Cycle;
  • are released under a free/open license;
  • appear in the list of approved TsDC in Annex A.

6   Lifecycle of Piece of Hardware

The following activities are part of the Lifecycle3:

  1. Realization, spanning from raw material extraction, production of semi-finished products, final assembly. Activities in this phase are aimed at establishing the functionality of the piece of open source hardware (3.3).
  2. Operation and maintenance, including activities centered on delivering or maintaining the functionality of the piece of open source hardware (3.3)
  3. End-of-life, including reuse, refurbishment, reconditioning, recycling, disposal. Activities in this phase are aimed at making the physical components or a subset of functions available for other pieces of hardware (3.1). 

...

Documentation (3.8) does not only facilitate hardware replication or “making”. It also facilitates hardware operation, maintenance, repair, recycling, etc. This standard makes no difference between the relative importance of these activities and considers them as equal. Therefore, in this standard, the four rights of open source hardware (3.3) are not restricted to the sole hardware production phase and cover the whole hardware life cycle.

Annex A (informative) - Approved TsDC

 The TsDC listed in table A.1 have been approved by the DIN SPEC 3105 consortium which created the present version of this standard. Unless otherwise specified, always the latest release of these TsDC apply.

Table A.1 — Approved TsDC

Title

issued by

Reference/Repository

Open Hardware Standards – TsDC

Open Source Ecology Germany e. V. (2020)

https://gitlab.com/OSEGermany/oh-tsdc

Bibliography

[1]   J. Bonvoisin, T. Buchert, M. Preidel, and R. Stark, “How collaborative is open source hardware? Insights from repository mining,” Design Science Journal, 2018.

[2]   A. Powell, “Democratizing production through open source knowledge: from open software to open hardware,” Media, Culture & Society, Aug. 2012.

[3]   Redlich, T., & Moritz, M. (2016). Bottom-up Economics. Foundations of a Theory of Distributed and Open Value Creation. In The decentralized and networked future of value creation (pp. 27-57). Springer, Cham.

[4]   J. Bonvoisin and R. Mies, “Measuring Openness in Open Source Hardware with the Open-o-Meter,” Procedia CIRP, vol. 78, pp. 388–393, Jan. 2018.

[5]   J. Bonvoisin, R. Mies, R. Stark, and J.-F. Boujut, “What is the ‘Source’ of Open Source Hardware?,” Journal of Open Hardware, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 18, 2017.

[6]   Open Source Hardware Association, “Open Source Hardware (OSHW) Statement of Principles 1.0,” 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.oshwa.org/definition/. [Accessed: 30-Jun-2019].

[7]   Open Source Hardware Association, “Best Practices for Open-Source Hardware 1.0,” 18-Apr-2013. [Online]. Available: http://www.oshwa.org/sharing-best-practices/. [Accessed: 30-Mar-2016].

[8]   Open Source Initiative, “The Open Source Definition 1.9,” 22-Mar-2007. [Online]. Available: https://opensource.org/osd-annotated. [Accessed: 30-Mar-2016].

[9]   DIN SPEC 3105‑2, Open Source Hardware — Part 2: Community-based assessment

[10]   Creative Commons Corporation, “Attribution 4.0 International,” 25-Nov-2013 [Online]. Available: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [Accessed: 31-Mar-2020]

[11]   Creative Commons Corporation, “Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International,” 25-Nov-2013 [Online]. Available: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ [Accessed: 31-Mar-2020]

[12]   GNU Project, “GNU General Public Liense – Version 3”, 29-Jun-2007 [Online]. Available: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html [Accessed: 31-Mar-2020]

[13]   CERN, “Open Hardware License Version 2”, 12-Mar-2020 [Online]. Available: https://kt.cern/ohlv2 [Accessed: 31-Mar-2020]

[14]   Free Software Foundation, Inc., “The Free Software Definition,” 30-Jul-2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html [Accessed: 21-Aug-2019].

[15]   The Debian Project, “Free Software Guidelines version 1.1”, 26-Apr-2004 [Online]. Available: https://www.debian.org/ [Accessed: 31-Mar-2020]

[16]   Freedom defined moderators, “Definition of Free cultural Works version 1.1”, 17-Feb-2015 [Online]. Available: https://freedomdefined.org/Definition [Accessed: 31-Mar-2020]

[17]   Open Knowledge Foundation “The Open Definition version 2.1”, Nov-2015 [Online]. Available: https://opendefinition.org/ [Accessed: 31-Mar-2020]

[18]   VDI 4500, Technische Dokumentation

 

Bibliography

[1]   J. Bonvoisin, T. Buchert, M. Preidel, and R. Stark, “How collaborative is open source hardware? Insights from repository mining,” Design Science Journal, 2018.

[2]   A. Powell, “Democratizing production through open source knowledge: from open software to open hardware:,” Media, Culture & Society, Aug. 2012.

[3]   J. Bonvoisin and R. Mies, “Measuring Openness in Open Source Hardware with the Open-o-Meter,” Procedia CIRP, vol. 78, pp. 388–393, Jan. 2018.

[4]   J. Bonvoisin, R. Mies, R. Stark, and J.-F. Boujut, “What is the ‘Source’ of Open Source Hardware?,” Journal of Open Hardware, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 18, 2017.

[5]   Open Source Hardware Association, “Open Source Hardware (OSHW) Statement of Principles 1.0,” 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.oshwa.org/definition/. [Accessed: 30-Mar-2016].

[6]   Open Source Hardware Association, “Best Practices for Open-Source Hardware 1.0,” 18-Apr-2013. [Online]. Available: http://www.oshwa.org/sharing-best-practices/. [Accessed: 30-Mar-2016].

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