Nostr Web Client

1. Coldcard was FOSS and bootstrapped - nvk and peter denied interested VC investors.

2. Foundation cloned code, announced slightly different hardware, raised money from those same VCs pre-product.

3. Coldcard changed software license to allow everything but that. No longer FOSS.

Coldcard source code is verifiable and reproducible. It can be modified and built but not sold. You can even add your own entropy during seed generation. I personally disagreed with their decision to change the license but it does not change the security of the product.

NVK is a friend. Coinkite is a sponsor of RHR. Ten31 is an investor in Coinkite. I have used and recommended their products before all of that but transparency is important.

I am personally grateful their team continues to build robust bitcoin hardware. My family relies on it.

DevilishLemonBar 🦥⚡🏳️‍🌈 2y ago

"Cloned" is an interesring choice of words for forking open source code.

I guess Coinkite cloned the trezor firmware in that sense then. 🤡

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Discussion

ODELL 2y ago

coldcard used a trezor library and built on top, foundation built a coldcard mk3 in different clothing, advertised it as such, raised money pre-product on that as the premise, and accepted preorders for it before releasing their own code publicly

DevilishLemonBar 🦥⚡🏳️‍🌈 2y ago

Aside from the fact that they diverged significantly since then, forking the *exact same code* with no modification with different hardware is entirely permissible.

Don't release firmware on a license you don't agree with in the first place, and don't make a fuss when people do things that are entirely permissible under that license.

I don't care that they changed their license, but calling others "clones" is braindead and spineless.

DevilishLemonBar 🦥⚡🏳️‍🌈 2y ago

Disclaimer: I do not own a Passport or a Coldcard.

ODELL 2y ago

the only reason they diverged since then is because coldcard changed their license

> Don't release firmware on a license you don't agree with in the first place, and don't make a fuss when people do things that are entirely permissible under that license.

I agree with this and personally do not think coldcard should have changed their license, as I said in my original post and have publicly said in the past.

Did not realize the term cloned carried such a negative connotation with some people. Will say forking the exact same code with no modification in the future.