The Makers' Bill of Rights

I hate owning things that can't be fixed.

If you can't open it, you don't own it:
a Maker's Bill of Rights to accessible, extensive, and repairable hardware.
by Mister Jalopy

• Meaningful and specific parts lists shall be included.


• Cases shall be easy to open.


• Batteries should be replaceable.


• Special tools are allowed only for darn good reasons.


• Profiting by selling expensive special tools is wrong and not making special tools available is even worse.


• Torx is OK; tamperproof is rarely OK.


• Components, not entire sub-assemblies, shall be replaceable.


• Consumables, like fuses and filters, shall be easy to access.


• Circuit boards shall be commented.


• Power from USB is good; power from proprietary power adapters is bad.


• Standard connecters shall have pinouts defined.


• If it snaps shut, it shall snap open.


• Screws better than glues.


• Docs and drivers shall have permalinks and shall reside for all perpetuity at archive.org.


• Ease of repair shall be a design ideal, not an afterthought.


• Metric or standard, not both.


• Schematics shall be included.