That’s nice to hear, thanks Klaus.
You probably are aware of mutable instruments, iirc they do open source everything, even hardware and I think they also started out as a small company. The documentation is definitely an issue to be considered when open sourcing code, but it depends on the context. If the firmware is using a common microcontroller framework like FreeRTOS / mbed / cube a readme and comments may be sufficient.
Another suggestion I have is to have the option to do firmware alpha & beta testing with a few select campaign contributors who are willing to sign an nda. (I would!). From my experience documentation also arises out attempts by third parties make in trying to use a product rather than the engineers being able to anticipate every potential issue.
A second, perhaps not so uplifting example is the octopus sequencer (I own one) the people behind them did release the firmware sources, but sadly the company who made the octopus is now defunct. The firmware source release was a rescue line for the users though. That was years ago though and the electronic music hardware market has changed since. The octopus was also a super high end device with tiny volumes, full metal buttons and a frame made of expensive wood… more of a enthusiast project. So I think you are safe. Still the build quality of the OXI One seem excellent… but more mass appeal. 🙂
If you are planning to do alpha testing the firmware or the app (if it’s a PWA) I would be interested. I know C and JS but no Java.
