Quote:
Originally Posted by kipper2k
The cost nowadays for complicated HW is not cheap
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On the contrary, the cost of making advanced hardware designs has never been lower due to advances in FPGAs, the low cost of having PCBs made in China, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kipper2k
and developers need rewards for keeping the various platforms alive.
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The feeling of contributing to and being a part of a community is enough of a reward for many, assuming you have a day job that pays your bills.
The real problem to me with closed source is that buying an accessory to my Amiga is not an end in itself, it's a starting point. I want to be able to play with the thing in any manner I like, typically by hacking it, learning how it works, and improving it. Not releasing the design as open source diminishes the value of the product significantly, to the point that I would not consider buying things for my Amiga that are not open source.
Also, not releasing the design as open source is short sighted; eventually someone will make the same thing as open source, and then that thing can be built upon and improved further. As seen by the several similar designs that have been mentioned in this thread, this is neither the first nor the last FPGA based accelerator.