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> Lindtner compares the culture of Shenzhen’s manufacturing ecosystem to the open-source movement among software developers.

This is actually an interesting comparison. There are plenty of open-source "clones" or (more kindly) alternatives to closed-source software, and this is seen as a good thing. What's the real difference between this and these sorts of clean-room hardware clones?

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In my opinion there are two big reasons. Most open source software are building blocks, versus an end product, so it's seen as helping the ecosystem forward. Secondly, atoms are more costly than electrons to copy.

To begin with, the open source community supports free software and looks down upon profiteering beyond a basic sustainable income, preferring no income at all from open source contributions.

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