John G. Spooner of ZDNet News reports that a cadre of hardware developers is trying to bring concepts from the open-source software world to the hardware business. Spooner writes . . .

“Engineers around the world, connected via the Internet, are seeking to develop a vast library of freely available hardware designs, similar to how Linux developers and other open-source programmers share intellectual property.”

“This open-source hardware library — consisting of design elements for processors, memory controllers, peripherals, motherboards and a host of other components — would aide semiconductor start-ups and device manufacturers alike. Instead of investing millions in basic and sometimes redundant design work, companies would be able to tap the library for the know-how they need, licensing designs for chips and other technology for free.”

“At the same time, selecting well-designed open-source hardware has the potential to speed development of computing devices, ranging from set-top boxes to network switches . . .”

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