Live data from Hacker News

Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

digitalfoundry.net

21–30 of 190 posts

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#21
post #12
post #6

For those that are interested: - https://github.com/Keychron/zgm - https://zgm.gg/

Um, did they announce opensource firmware without providing the source?

Based on what I understand, pull requests are coming. In the meantime they provide directions for people that want to contribute here -> https://github.com/Keychron/zgm/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#22
post #4

I suspect that a lot of hardware will start shipping open source firmware soon. Routers, IP cameras, etc. It'll be a selling point for everyone tinkering with vibe coding, and it's no longer a moat. Companies that don't do this will have their firmwares dumped with open source models and tools. Companies that do this will have community goodwill and extra distribution that comes from having people talking about your…

I suspect a lot of that firmware has NDAs with Broadcom attached.

thats not the blocker you think it is. they can "leak" the info, wait until broadcom lawyers notice, agree to investigate themselves and fire a random contractor (who gets paid on the side). they just need to do it outside of america to avoid discovery if anyone decides to sue them.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#24
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Routers, IP cameras, etc. Those already exist: OpenWRT, OpenIPC. I wish more hardware was available though, especially for cameras.

Do you have any cameras that support openipc you’d recommend? I need surveillance cameras (outdoor mostly) but the cheap ones I found are a horrid proprietary mess. I even bought and returned one after the setup was complex and invasive. Basically all I need is access to the live stream from a raspberry pi where I can store and process the video.

> Do you have any cameras that support openipc you’d recommend?

I don't, unfortunately. My suggestion would be to use cameras that stream over RTSP, an open protocol, so you don't need to use any proprietary tools/apps. Make sure the cameras are air-gapped.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#25
post #4

I suspect that a lot of hardware will start shipping open source firmware soon. Routers, IP cameras, etc. It'll be a selling point for everyone tinkering with vibe coding, and it's no longer a moat. Companies that don't do this will have their firmwares dumped with open source models and tools. Companies that do this will have community goodwill and extra distribution that comes from having people talking about your…

That might happen in niche enthusiast verticals like PC gaming. It's not going to happen in the broader market because there is no broader interest in it.

Most people want open source firmware for their router like they want open source sewing patterns for their pants. Primarily these are consumer products where people buy the product as a way to intentionally avoid spending time dealing with the problem they solve.

Open source pants might sell well in a Hobby Lobby and an open source IP camera might sell well in a Micro Center, but neither would sell well enough to get shelf space in a Walmart... and the best selling one in Walmart sells a tiny fraction compared to whoever can land an Xfinity contract.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#26
post #8

A bit ago I accidentally bought a Keychron keyboard that didn't have QMK support, but then found that someone had ported it anyway, and I was able to flash it and fix some problems I had (the main one being that it seems like the default firmware only scans a single row of keys while asleep, possibly to save energy, but I want any keypress to wake the computer.) Maybe it's not perfect, but the community around open s…

I bought a K4 Nordic version, only to learn none of their software supports it. So i can't reconfigure the firmware.

The keyboard has swapped Super/Alt (Windows/Alt) on the windows layout which is so annoying. I hate spending money on hardware so i'm living with it, but i curse the engineer that burned the prom every day.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#27
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, did they announce opensource firmware without providing the source?

Based on what I understand, pull requests are coming. In the meantime they provide directions for people that want to contribute here -> https://github.com/Keychron/zgm/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md

Where are the PRs coming in? I see a repo without source code.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#28
post #4

I suspect that a lot of hardware will start shipping open source firmware soon. Routers, IP cameras, etc. It'll be a selling point for everyone tinkering with vibe coding, and it's no longer a moat. Companies that don't do this will have their firmwares dumped with open source models and tools. Companies that do this will have community goodwill and extra distribution that comes from having people talking about your…

That might happen in niche enthusiast verticals like PC gaming. It's not going to happen in the broader market because there is no broader interest in it. Most people want open source firmware for their router like they want open source sewing patterns for their pants. Primarily these are consumer products where people buy the product as a way to intentionally avoid spending time dealing with the problem they solve.…

Tangential but open source pants are very much a thing https://freesewing.eu/

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#29
post #8

A bit ago I accidentally bought a Keychron keyboard that didn't have QMK support, but then found that someone had ported it anyway, and I was able to flash it and fix some problems I had (the main one being that it seems like the default firmware only scans a single row of keys while asleep, possibly to save energy, but I want any keypress to wake the computer.) Maybe it's not perfect, but the community around open s…

I bought a K4 Nordic version, only to learn none of their software supports it. So i can't reconfigure the firmware. The keyboard has swapped Super/Alt (Windows/Alt) on the windows layout which is so annoying. I hate spending money on hardware so i'm living with it, but i curse the engineer that burned the prom every day.

That sucks, the main reason I like KeyChron is the little switch on the side of mine that toggles between Mac and Windows! I wouldn't buy another keyboard without this feature TBH.
Post reply on HN