BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Could somebody please explain the "Open" in NMEA-2000??

Tapio Sokura

wrote:
It actually says, as the title: "NMEA 2000® Marine Network Standard,
The Open Non-Proprietary Industry Wide Standard"

I guess it can be called open, because the spec is actually available
for anyone to use and implement, albeit for a hefty sum of money. Open
is not the same as free. And I guess there are no per unit licensing
fees that have to be paid if one implements NMEA2000 in one's product.

Anyway I agree with you, charging big bucks for interface protocol
specifications is out of the modern world, even though the big guys are
still doing it as well (IEC, ISO, etc). It especially hurts us education
and hobby users/developers, who then have to resort to incomplete and
unreliable 3rd party information when developing our wares. I can't see
how half-baked implementations due to lack/price of documentation help
the reputation of a standard..

Tapio