@rplst8 posted:
- To support hobbyists
- To garner goodwill from customers
- To foster innovation
Who said anything about policing or supporting it? Open source software licenses have no warranty and typically indemnify the author from liability.
Nothing says they have to release the enhancements as well. If you don’t think they’d pursue legal options, why not help out their customers?
I dunno, it’s never been as easy as it is now to prototype electronics and have them made overseas. It’s a maker economy and as we’ve seen there are many people on this forum who are extremely capable.
Being free of legal liabilities would likely entice more activity in that regard.
Without going through point by point, which of your thoughts directly financially benefit Lionel? Not soft/feel good, but actual financial benefits?
Aftermarket competitors are not easy. I worked with an appliance manufacturer who went easy on third-party knockoffs of the water filters for their lower-end refrigerators. They thought it was a “right” thing to do to support the folks who were buying at that price point. The knockoff filters were complete junk and built on the cheap. They leaked everywhere and ruined kitchen floors. Many recovered field failures of the filter were built without gaskets. All the customer reviews related to leaky ice makers blamed the refrigerator as being poorly built. Simply wiping your hands of “liability” doesn’t absolve an OEM in the court of public opinion. If it’s going onto your product or into your system, you **** well better make sure it’s built well because the customer doesn’t know who the no name name knockoff is, but they do know the OEM.
