Right on mate! Keep those questions coming!
I think it is a reasonable starting point. Due to the nature of OSI the way they talk about licenses and associated trademarks I had to slow down and reread sections to see how they would apply here. Parts like section 3.1 probably donât even apply. Hopefully we can get by with something simpler and easier to understand.
As you know this is a delicate area. I hope that the people following this public discussion understand we are simply doing our best for the continued success of this volunteer project.
If allowed to (copyright / licenses / ask for permission) we could just do a find and replace on this Raspberry Pi trademark rules and brand guidelines - Raspberry Pi and probably be 95% done (not counting image changes). I like how it has specific examples, especially for things that interact with the ecosystem.
This is also a good one to give a quick review AlmaLinux OS - Forever-Free Enterprise-Grade Operating System
Seems like various open source operating systems have the most overlap with how others will likely interact with the Meshtastic trademarks, combined with something like the R PI guidelines incase Meshtastic did eventually want to endorse / partner to make Meshtastic licensed hardware.
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There are pretty detailed and standard guidelines for windows compatibility https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks
On the list to look over.
Any update on this project?
Very slow progress, unfortunately. Itâs been hard to find a good âfactoryâ in China to make this product. I am making efforts behind the scenes, the biggest hurdle has been finding the right partners.
COVID hitting China again is not helping our cause either.
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Itâs a heck of a time to try to launch such a product, so I feel for you. I appreciate the update.
There is a clear need for such a product, so I am not going to give up on it. Apple launched âsatellite connectivityâ with the iPhone 14 series but itâs only a last resort solution and works in extremely niche conditions, and only in the USA for the moment.
There are millions of seamen, pilots, forest rangers, policemen, firemen, search and rescue teams, amusement park employees, tour guides, hiker, skiers and so on, who would love to use this product.
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you said it. you may need to wait a few years, unfortunately, while we get past these awful crazy spells circulating the world, which unfortunately is what we will need these for.
Iâm less than impressed with e-Ink displays when trying to use them for navigating menus or selecting choices. Theyâre superb for readability in the sun and consume power only when changing the displayed text. However, response time is bad and using fast writes leaves ghosting.
Have you considered the Sharp Memory LCD? I have an Amazfit Bip watch that I charge roughly once every three weeks. Itâs connected via Bluetooth, provides notifications, wakes me up with vibration every day as my alarm, and it uses a color capacitive touchscreen. These LCD screens consume a tiny amount of power to maintain their state, and their big draw is during refreshes like e-ink. However, their response time is amazing - you can watch videos. Navigating a menu, selecting a pre-canned message, or using a rotary encoder to slowly spell out your message would be possible and look snappy.
Iâm unsure about the price comparison between the two, but Iâd jump at the opportunity of buying one that lets me compose custom messages in a reasonable amount of time. I run an event where I have teams go wander a large woods. If you can meet your $80-ish budget, Iâd jump at the opportunity of buying a case of these devices, especially if it helped me track where each team is located.
I think my use case fits pretty fully in your targeted market segment already. I want an off the shelf device I can use for mesh networking and target for building a more user friendly mapping + group tracking + messaging application than the current T-Beam/T-Echo+ATAK setup. My personal use cases are hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and snowmobiling in backcountry situations in the US (Montana). IP68 certification wouldnât be necessary, but some amount of weatherproofing with a wink-wink-nudge-nudge itâs mostly waterproof would be great (or dimensions and recs for waterproofing). Skiing and snowmobiling involve a lot of contact with waterâŚ
For my own safety, something I can buy and have shipped to a riding buddy and have confidence they can get it working is all I really want. I donât have that confidence in any of the current hardware.
No, but thanks for bringing it to my attention, I will definitely consider this as an option!
This is arguably the major reason I want to come out with my own product. goTenna is quite easy to setup and use, Meshtastic devices, not so much for the average Joe and Jane, at least not yet. It will require work on the software side of things, more than the hardware.
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With the recent added ability to configure the devices with the client applications (Android/Apple/Web) itâs immensely more easy than it was before. However, thereâs of course areas where it can still be improved and thankfully the development team is all for making it easy for the end-user. If you have specific suggestions to help improve, please open a feature request on GitHub. Thatâs the best way to get their eyes on it and get things going.
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