Ethics 101: To re-use or not to re-use?

[MikeDubreuil]

Let me start off by making a bad analogy to hardware. In the past 5 years the hardware guys have made a significant improvement in the FIRST program by encouraging the spread of designs. From multiple speed transmissions to omni-wheels to some craziness called swerve drive- they are sharing everything! Yet, on the software side we want to keep our code hidden. Teams put their electronics in black boxes. It's getting bad. Maybe we should take a play out of the hardware guys book?

Here's my 10 cents...
Teams have a 1 season monopoly on their software. If a veteran team wants to re-use code from a previous year they should be required to post it in a "Software Portfolio" hosted by FIRST. The portfolio is publicly available to everyone. A new regional award can be created for veteran teams who share code, "The Software Award." An award that celebrates a teams generosity and their ability to write good software with even better documentation.