From: ldo@nz.invalid   
      
   Arduino, the company known for its open-source microcontoller hardware   
   and software, is being swallowed up by Qualcomm   
   ,   
   giving rise to the inevitable concerns about whether this might mean   
   an end to the company’s open-source ethos.   
      
   Qualcomm denies having any plans for this, of course. But things could   
   easily change in 6-12 months, or even next week.   
      
   Quote:   
      
       Arduino's commitment to open-source hardware and software could   
       help keep that from happening, though. Third parties are all   
       currently capable of manufacturing and selling their own   
       Arduino-compatible products—the Arduino name is reserved for the   
       company's official releases, but there are plenty of compatible   
       ones with "-duino" suffixes out there—and if the community around   
       the controllers and boards gets mad enough, it could attempt to   
       fork the hardware and software to provide an alternative to   
       whatever direction Qualcomm takes.   
      
   See, there’s an obvious starting point: what if Qualcomm starts   
   claiming that names ending with “-duino” are too close to the   
   “Arduino” trademark, and third parties must cease and desist from   
   using such names?   
      
   That would be the smallest and simplest start of the slippery slope   
   ...   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)