[DIYbio] Fwd: Google Doc for describing best practices.

I can't quite get wording of an important section of 'Overall' and would like to discuss it. Littlebits is an example of mixed open/close. The PCB layouts are released (https://github.com/littlebitselectronics), the connectors are awesome and novel and unique, but are not released. This mix can be found in other projects, Makerbot being a large one. There are lots of parts we all use that won't have design docs (ex: microUSB connector), but when we the designer have access to the design docs and they are not released, then the design is not open source hardware in my eyes. I want to be clear that I don't think little bits is doing anything wrong; we've just never addressed this aspect. However, going forward I think we need to clear up the ambiguity. So here's my stab at the wording:

Any part of a design that can be opened but is intentionally withheld will cause a design to be considered partially open. The rule of thumb: Have I released all the source files that I have access to? If the answer is no, then the project is not OSHW.

I don't want to discourage people from releasing! So I'm willing to consider 'partially open' wording as a way to allow folks to get the benefits of open community while closing parts of a design if they feel the need.

Cheers,

-Nathan