Qi Hardware

Qi Hardware Inc.
Company typePublic
Industry
Headquarters
Hong Kong
,
Hong Kong
Number of locations
San Francisco, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei
Area served
Worldwide
Products

Qi Hardware was an organization which produces copyleft hardware and software, in an attempt to apply the Free Software Foundation's GNU GPL concept of copylefting software to the hardware layer by using the CC BY-SA license for schematics, bill of materials and PCB layout data. The project has been both a community of popular open hardware websites and a company, founded by Werner Almesberger, Xiangfu Liu, Steve Mosher, Jon Phillips, Wolfgang Spraul and Yi Zhang, that makes hardware products.[1][2][3][4] Formed from the now defunct Openmoko project,[3] key members went on to form Qi Hardware Inc. and Sharism At Work Ltd. Thus far, the project has released the Ben Nanonote,[5][6][7][8] the Milkymist One,[9] and the Ben WPAN wireless project[1][10] to create a copyleft wireless platform. The examples of Qi hardware projects are the Ben NanoNote pocket computer, Elphel 353 video camera and Milkymist One video synthesizer.

In 2019, it became known that Bassel Khartabil was an early investor in the Milkymist and its first customer. He was interested in its Bitcoin mining potential.[11][12]

In February 2019, Qi Hardware donated the project brand and history to Fabricatorz Foundation 501(c)3 nonprofit in order to continue Qi Hardware's efforts to decentralize hardware due to large hardware manufacturers attempting to centralize Proof of Work Mining into their hardware of choice.[13]

In January 2020, Qi Hardware rebranded itself as Qiware in order to focus on Shenzhen technology and culture with launch of Scale Publishing and Cryptology community event in 2020.[14][15]

In June 2024, Qi Hardware and Qiware brands along with history were donated by Fabricatorz and Qi Hardware to the hardware company Phi. The announcement referenced the primary history written on the Internet and alluded to the unwritten history from 2011 until present in Proof-of-Work hardware.[16][17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Terrence O'Brien (2011-06-17). "Qi-Hardware debuts free, open source wireless solution, not a threat to WiFi". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2011-06-20. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  2. ^ Eric Brown (Mar 16, 2010). "Hackable Linux clamshell goes on sale for $99". Linux Devices. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved Feb 17, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Pam Derringer (2009-07-01). "Openomoko Layoffs Lead to New Open Hardware Venture". linux.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-18. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  4. ^ "Milkymist One video synthesizer shown at 6th Libre Graphics Meeting in Montreal". Qi Hardware. May 13, 2011. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  5. ^ Gareth Halfacree (2010-03-16). "Qi Hardware launches NanoNote". Bit-tech. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  6. ^ Donald Melanson (2010-03-15). "Qi Hardware's tiny, hackable Ben NanoNote now shipping". Bit-tech. Archived from the original on 2011-08-22. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  7. ^ David Murphy (2010-06-05). "Qi Hardware Launches Open-Source Computer". PCMag. Archived from the original on 2011-09-21. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  8. ^ rg (2010-03-17). "Qi Hardware Ben NanoNote". linux.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-30. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  9. ^ Ray, Bill. "Open-source hardware group puts out vid system-on-a-chip". The Register. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  10. ^ Jake (2011-06-16). "Phillips: Qi Hardware Releases Free Wireless Hardware". LWN.net. Archived from the original on 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  11. ^ Rachel-Rose O'Leary (2019-04-28). "Murder, Censorship and Syria: Crypto and the Future of Uprisings". Coindesk. Retrieved 2024-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Bassel Is Here". Fabricatorz. 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2024-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ "Re-Launch of Qi Hardware". Fabricatorz. 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2024-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "Qi Hardware Now Qiware". Fabricatorz. 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2024-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ "Cryptology". 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2024-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "Qi Hardware and Qiware Granted to Phi". 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2024-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "Phi Merges the History of Qi Hardware: From Open Computer to Bitcoin Mining". 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2024-06-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Qi_Hardware&oldid=1229732912"