[bsder]

Partnering with Ultra Librarian is simply going to make me more inclined to shit on Flux, though. And I don't even know anything about Flux.

These "library managers" like Ultra Librarian and SnapEDA are a pox upon the ecosystem. The symbols and footprints have non-open source licenses, so you nominally can't share them. They simply want to get in the middle of your design so that they can monetize you.

[rgovostes]

I looked into this the other day. SnapEDA says their symbols are CC licensed, though their FAQ reference some kind of license addition that tries to discourage mass redistribution—at the time I couldn’t find the actual text of this addition. Ultra Librarian did not publish any license I could locate.

[SnappyCM]

Hi, this is Carlos from SnapMagic, thanks for sharing this. We have a CC4.0 license which allows for fair use on commercial and non-commercial manufactured designs without attribution or other license restrictions.

When sharing the exact CAD content or any derived works publicly, please make sure to provide proper attribution to the sources. The credited sources must include Snapmagic and the community author, if applicable. For more information, please check: https://support.snapmagic.com/en/articles/2957814-what-is-th...

[rgovostes]

Thanks for the clarification, and thanks for going with a permissive license.

I think the link to the Design Exception was broken previously. Also in the definition it's called the Design Exclusion, might want to fix that.

It would just be easiest if every page where you download the design has a copyable license with correct attribution, and a LICENSE file in the download bundle, just like a typical open source project. As is, the license information is kind of buried in not one but two different FAQ parts of your website.

[RF_Savage]

Is the license CC 4.0 or one of the older flawed ones?

That part is very important when it comes to CC licenses. Make a mistake in attribution for pre-4.0 CC license and you are open to being sued by the rights holder.

Cory Doctrow has an article about the background and the industry that sprang up to make use of this. https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/24/a-bug-in-early-creative-c...

[SnappyCM]

Hello there, this is Carlos from SnapMagic (formerly SnapEDA) writing, thanks for bringing this up. The Creative Commons License we use is CC4.0, with a Design Exception that allows for fair use of our content. For more information, please go to this link: https://support.snapmagic.com/en/articles/2957814-what-is-th...

[by_Seeing]

In Flux, this closed source aspect doesn't exist. Any user can fork and alter any part.

[peteforde]

Damn, I am apparently woefully ignorant of this. As someone who is somehow both intimidated and fatigued of having to track down multiple assets for every item in my BOM, DigiKey's downloadables have been huge win... or so I thought?

How does the licensing issue actually manifest in a practical sense? By what mechanism(s) could this monetization occur? Is this sabre rattling or are small hardware designers actually getting bills for using premade footprints and models?

[RF_Savage]

I do like the DigiKey symbols, but the quality and style is all over the place with them.