They’ve extended the policy to include non-Elektron devices, but it’s still pretty gentle IMO. Here’s the official statement: Elektronauts: Topics and comments regarding modified firmware
Emphasis mine:
“General discussion around the topic is one thing, and not something we seek to inhibit, but we draw the line at distributing actionable material or actively encouraging people to install modifications that could damage their machines”
What does “actively encouraging” mean?
Like, saying “go and mod your Elektron” is encouraging, but saying “now I can finally multistream USB audio from my Octatrack” is Just general discussion around the topic?
I think it’s mainly because firmware is copyrighted software, while hardware mods involve changing a physical device you own. So the legal and policy issues can be quite different.
I think there is a constituency that doesn’t want this forum to regress to the Reddit level, no matter the topic.
The request to post responsibly in this topic has fallen on deaf ears and on folk who think the rules aren’t useful or applicable to them because they don’t like them … they’re necessary, you’ve agreed to abide by them and they’ll be implemented. This topic can’t be a constant drain on administration effort just to support a bunch of bickering about what every other person thinks is their correct interpretation about what will fly and what should be tolerated … that’s chaos, to avoid that there are site guidelines, read them. To make the topic remain viable for those who are prepared to post responsibly there have been countless requests to post responsibly … it’s been like a creche in the last half day because people with no cognisance or respect for the need to have boundaries and restraint have derailed it to the extent that the topic itself could not even be managed within Discourse … a lot of garbage was removed rather than dealing with a tonne of flags.
If people can’t or won’t respect the need for some order they will be given a timeout. It’s that simple. A constructive and sustained discussion amongst adults is possible, but not the way it has unfolded in the last few hours … if people act like adults and understand (or rather accept) that there does need to be guidelines in place for this to happen, then the discussion can flourish … but guidelines are necessary, this is not up for debate. It’s not for any individual to be deciding it should be like this or that, it is the way the moderation team implement the site rules that’s all you need to concern yourself with … inline commentary on flags is off-topic and will be deleted. There’s still an enormous amount of freedom to discuss this responsibly, if people can only abide by the site guidelines and moderation requests.
So when this re-opens people need to be posting more responsibly, anyone deliberately trying to derail this patently volatile discussion will be removed from it so that the responsible majority can at least continue to do so without interruption. The admins don’t want to spend all day attending to stuff that shouldn’t have been posted … people flagging this stuff care about the forum, so follow the site guidelines … it’s the only workable solution. Please, this is akin to a political discussion in terms of its likelihood to slide south quickly. Responsible on topic posts only that don’t drag it off topic as this will result in far too much admin … it’s not moderation/flags/flaggers/guidelines ruining the flow … it’s people not understanding the clear need to post responsibly and with a broader respect for the letter and spirit of Elektron’s statement on why they are not welcoming certain content being discoverable here. This is their support forum after all.
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Yes, that makes sense.
On the other hand, they do explicitly refer to hardware
We also need to protect Elektron’s intellectual property, and therefore do not permit the development or distribution of firmware or hardware that makes unauthorized use of it, for profit or otherwise.
No idea what “unauthorized use” might be, the manuals, the terms and conditions and the EULA do not say anything about that.
And this part is of the policy is also directly applicable to hardware modifications:
but we draw the line at distributing actionable material or actively encouraging people to install modifications that could damage their machines.
But it seems that at least for now endorsing and linking to hardware mods of non-Elektron devices is perfectly fine, there’s lots of links around. I haven’t found any recent hardware mods for Elektron devices, tho, just that old output mod for the A4 mk1 from 2013, and a couple of people adding batteries.
That is IMHO inconsistent: if modded firmware for any vendor cant be endorsed because it can damage devices, that same argument applies to hardware modifications of any manufacturer.
I understand that policy is often first created for a specific issue, and then evolved until it is clear and consistent. I think that’s what needs to happen here.
We need examples what can and cannot be said, otherwise the policy will have a chilling effect that goes beyond its meaning.
And if endorsing hardware mods is fine for now, at least the policy it needs to make that explicit.
The pace at which these firmwares are being updated is astonishing, it is hard to imagine what it will be like in a few months.
Re the OT USB being prevented from audio I/O by Elektron, I think there is more to it than “they lied to us!” Much more likely that since OT is 44.1khz and not 48khz like later machines, it was not feasible for OB integration and would require major OS refactoring.
Could be it wasn’t feasible by hand a while ago. and now in the past few months times have changed.
that makes sense, thanks for your input
i think resampling wouldn’t be an issue though if there was will, but that’s besides the point, that was just an example
there’s more to it. imagine that quite soon all the digi boxes may suddenly become obsolete if an “ultimate” tonverk fw gets out: with DN’s synths engines, DT’s chopping, ST’s sounds etc, all in one box
and i hate it that the userbase gets blamed for it. it was a shot in the foot to artificially diversify the product line this way
If they ever did separate FX sends in drum subtracks that might persuade me to look at the TV again.
(But please don’t ruin the thread by replying telling me where to look).
I guess this is it. “not feasible” is just a way of saying “we don’t have the resources // don’t think it’s worthwhile to solve this”.