RE: Is the nordic mesh open-source?

Ricky — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 10:55:39 GMT

Thank you for your answer. Nordic mesh code is cool, I just want to have a good study.

RE: Is the nordic mesh open-source?

Bjørn Kvaale — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 10:50:44 GMT

Here is a definition of open source software found on Wikipedia: "Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose".

I am assuming this is what you mean by "fully open-source". If you take a look at the Nordic license below, you can see that you can't just do whatever you want to with the Nordic mesh code. You have to abide by certain rules, and therefore I would argue that the Nordic mesh SDK is not fully open-source. However, if you follow the rules stated in the license, you can still do a lot of cool things that you could also do with fully open-source software.

Here is the Nordic license shown in the nrf_mesh_sdk.c file:

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form, except as embedded into a Nordic Semiconductor ASA integrated circuit in a product or a software update for such product, must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of Nordic Semiconductor ASA nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
This software, with or without modification, must only be used with a Nordic Semiconductor ASA integrated circuit.
Any software provided in binary form under this license must not be reverse engineered, decompiled, modified and/or disassembled.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY NORDIC SEMICONDUCTOR ASA "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NONINFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL NORDIC SEMICONDUCTOR ASA OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.