
USB Product ID Allocations for Free Software / Open Hardware - seba_dos1
https://github.com/openmoko/openmoko-usb-oui
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mushwisker
I wish either (a) USB-IF would stop being evil and start assigning small PID
blocks for a reasonable price, or (b) someone would sue the fuck out of USB-IF
for antitrust violations.

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ascorbic
There's also [http://pid.codes](http://pid.codes)

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markrages
But can I apply before my project is published under a FOSS license?

~~~
tinus_hn
> Do not apply before your project is published under a FOSS license!

Well, you could of course try to apply before your project is published under
a FOSS license! Who knows!

~~~
schoen
That's what people do with
[https://www.eff.org/awards/coop/rules](https://www.eff.org/awards/coop/rules)
(we continue to get claims regularly that ignore every single required
element, warning, and instruction).

~~~
dspillett
_> that ignore every single required element, warning, and instruction_

I suspect it isn't that they've read and ignored the instructions. More likely
it is _complete_ ignorance: that they have not even bothered to read that
document properly, if at all.

It is easier to throw out an attempt and hope for the best, than to make an
actual effort to be compliant. After first refusal people will either give in
("it was worth a try, but I really don't care that much"), make more of an
effort second time around ("the lazy way didn't work, so maybe I'll make some
effort") or bitch & moan about how unfair the system is like a child who isn't
allowed more cookies until he tidies his room.

Very few people care to take the time to read the rules on public facilities.
They even openly admit it: hence all the forum posts that start "please delete
if not allowed" which basically means "I don't care if this is allowed or not,
I want to post it so I'm going to whatever your rules say so fuck you".

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dmitrygr
You can also just squat on one. As long as you avoid using the trademarks
("usb" and the logo) there is nothing that can be done to you even in the US.
This is basically what most Chinese products do.

~~~
sparky_
What is the advantage of applying for one as a FOSS project as opposed to
squatting?

~~~
seba_dos1
You will get your product name visible in _lsusb_ that way.

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trasz
There are also the free shared PID/VID numbers from
[https://github.com/obdev/v-usb/blob/master/usbdrv/USB-IDs-
fo...](https://github.com/obdev/v-usb/blob/master/usbdrv/USB-IDs-for-
free.txt). They don’t have any licensing requirements.

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k_sze
I wonder if either openmoko or pid.codes actually check that the open hardware
in the applications actually exist and work as advertised.

Like, I could create a stub project and publish it under an FOSS/OSHW license,
but nothing in it actually works yet. Wouldn't it be a waste to allocate a PID
to such project?

~~~
ajross
Of course it would. But the truth is that while 65000 is a small number
cryptographically, it's still a _lot_ of throwaway toy open source projects.

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jdswain
Does anyone know of a low cost way of getting a Product ID for a commercial
product? I've been working on software for an embedded board and am using the
USB port as a debug port. It works fine now as a USB serial link, but it would
be nice to have our own PID, just not worth $5000 for a single product.

~~~
jdietrich
Many IC manufacturers provide free sub-licensed PIDs from their own VID
allocation.

[https://www.nxp.com/support/developer-resources/software-
dev...](https://www.nxp.com/support/developer-resources/software-development-
tools/lpc-developer-resources-/usb-vid-pid-program:USB-VID-PID-PROGRAM)

[http://www.microchip.com/usblicensing](http://www.microchip.com/usblicensing)

[https://www.silabs.com/products/interface/request-product-
id](https://www.silabs.com/products/interface/request-product-id)

[http://www.ti.com/en/download/mcu/application_for_sublicense...](http://www.ti.com/en/download/mcu/application_for_sublicense.pdf)

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emilfihlman
USB IDs are idiotic and should 100% be just squatted on. There is no reason
such a stupid design should be enforced by any open source organisation.

If you want to have an identification for a device, standardise capabilities
tags and provide some free form fields for perhaps at least manufacturer and
description.

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Faaak
Do you even know what USB IDs are ? You can not identify an USB device without
them.

~~~
trasz
Sure you can - you can look at the manufacturer / product strings. And for
standard device classes (eg mass storage or CDC ACM, aka USB serial) you can
just use interface descriptors to identify them.

Would be nice if more systems used the strings embedded in the device, like eg
FreeBSD does, instead of looking up PID/VID in a static table.

~~~
vetinari
> Sure you can - you can look at the manufacturer / product strings.

Sure, you can. Does not mean that the vendors will. If I had a dollar for each
board identifying itself as "To be filled by O.E.M."...

