[Thumbgps-devel] Build vs. modify vs. what should we be doing anyway?

[Patrick Maupin]

On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 4:39 PM, Eric S. Raymond <esr at thyrsus.com> wrote:
> Sorry, my eyes aren't educated enough. (I'm an ex-mathematician; what
> relatively little I know about electronics design I've picked up by
> osmosis doing software). What does it say?

It says:

I am a very simple board.  My major components are:

- USB module
- USB patch antenna
- Small PL2303 clone (fitting in with your lawsuit theory)
- Simple 5v -> 3.3v voltage regulator
- Coin cell battery
- Diode so as not to drain battery during operation
- USB connector

There is nothing there that would require 4 layers, and all the
traces seem to "go somewhere".

There doesn't seem to be a real 8 pin SOIC PL2303.

It almost certainly isn't illegal to clone one of these chips
(although there might be an infringed patent or two there, that isn't
necessarily true either).  It probably is illegal to exhort people to
download the copyrighted Windows PL2303 driver and use it with this.
Probably not a problem with Linux :-)