Open Interface

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= part of the Open Hardware definition:

Description

Patrick McNamara, Open Hardware Foundation, at http://www.osbr.ca/archive.php?issue=10&section=Ar#A4:

"I believe hardware can be loosely placed into four categories of openness. They are, in order of least to most open: Closed, Open Interface, Open Design, and Open Implementation.

Open Interface: In the case of Open Interface hardware, all the documentation on how to make a piece of hardware perform the function for which it is designed is available. In the case of computer hardware, this means that all the information necessary to produce fully functional drivers is available. This is the minimum level of openness that makes hardware useful to the open software community. Surprisingly, large amounts of integrated circuits fall into this category. Any device for which you can get a complete data sheet from the manufacturer, with no limitations on sharing the data contained within, meets the Open Interface definition." (http://www.osbr.ca/archive.php?issue=10&section=Ar#A4)