Makers slam Qualcomm for tightening the clamps on Arduino

Qualcomm quietly rewrote the terms of service for its newest acquisition, programmable microcontroller and SBC maker Arduino, drawing intense fire from the maker community for grabbing additional rights to user-generated content on its platform and prohibiting reverse-engineering of what was once very open software. In a level …

[retiredFool]

Yuck

Well, as the colortokens guy said, RIP arduino, hello raspberry & esp. I did one thing on an arduino years ago and it was a decent platform. Somehow I stumbled on the RP2040 and now using the faster part for a project. I'd recommend them to anyone who wants off the qualcomm train. The IDE is quite good once you get it installed properly. I'm all raspberry for the IDE. I use a pi4 for the IDE. Of course you always want more. Little more RAM would be good. Haven't tried RISC-V mode yet. Anyone who has, is there an advantage over the ARM mode?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Yuck

Yeah, be sure to use the Pico 2 for this (RP2350) as the RP2040 has Cortex-M0 cores only. In one report, the RISC-V was faster on Fibonacci at 0.019 sec to ARM's 0.020 sec (5% diff) but slower on Primes (using floats for trunc(sqrt(X))) giving 5.18 secs on RISC-V to 1.24 secs on ARM.

Then again, some other dev tested uLISP on integer Tak and Q2 with 1.9 and 4.2 secs on RISC-V to 2.2 and 4.7 secs on ARM (say 10-15% diff) but FFT (float) was apparently faster on RISC-V (60 ms) than ARM (64 ms) while tanh(0.5) was faster on ARM (6 ms) than RISC-V (17 ms).

Normally all float results for the ARM (Cortex-M33 with FPU) should be a good deal faster than for RISC-V so I expect some issue with code at some level. In my experience the specific interactions between benchmark code and underlying language implementation can cause odd results. In Scheme for example, the code of the mazefun.scm and mbrotZ.scm benchmarks should be changed to use the language primitives list-ref (rather than the list-read lambda) and magnitude (rather than zi and zr, plus squaring), respectively, to properly time the interpreters. Ahead ot time compilers (Chez, gsc) do compile those lambdas and are not hugely affected but interpreters and JIT (petite, guile) can see a 2x speedup by just not reinventing the wheel on those (both functions are used a great many times, deep inside those benchmark codes).

[Gary Stewart]

Re: Yuck

I would like to suggest that you look for the A4 revision of the 2350 as it fixes the I/O problem along with a few others,

[retiredFool]

Re: Yuck

I use the pico's almost exclusively as controllers, so avoid floats if at all possible. I avoid integer division when possible. I even recently did a tweak after looking at some assembly code to change a multiplication for time to an even power of 2 instead of 1000000. As expected compiler is smart enough to change it to a shift. The only place I can't seem to resolve is I'd expect to be able to run core0 as the wifi interface and expect it to not be rock solid timing due to the wifi spi interface. What does surprise me is that the 2nd core that I want to have rock solid gpio timing is getting some timing shifts, small 1uS or less usually, but I don't get why. Still scratching my head over how to improve it and keep the wifi.

[Dav_Daddy]

Re: Yuck

Voltage sag maybe? What are you using for a power supply? Maybe try a higher amperage source?

Also check the length of your pcb traces. Maybe something funny is going on there?

[retiredFool]

Re: Yuck

I think it may be interrupts or possibly running out of ram so code must get refetched from flash. Just not sure. Don't think voltage, these things draw near to nothing. 40ma typ with the wifi doing some peaks around 100ma when it kicks. VCC looks solid. Thanks for the thought.

[Caver_Dave]

Re: Yuck

In my experience it is always resource contention. Some times in very unexpected places.

I work in the development of certifiable operating systems and I can assure you that avoiding jitter, by avoiding resource contention, is not trivial.

[retiredFool]

Re: Yuck

I'm sure you are correct, and finding the issue is not easy. I've resolved a number of issues, but I may have to live with the core one, network. I want wifi, and I think it is unresolvable to eliminate it completely if I keep wifi. I did discover in all my throwing pasta at the wall efforts, turning off DNS and TCP in the lwipopts.h file resulted in a large reduction in the program size. It did not fix the problem I thought I had. Program not fitting in RAM so it was faulting back to flash to retrieve code. I know the RP communicates with the wifi chip via spi, and it uses one of the PIO's to do so. Lots of resource contention issues possible. In my case, its not critical, just a nice to have and my OCD has trouble letting it go.

[alain williams]

" Qualcomm quietly rewrote the terms of service "

Any corporation doing something quietly should generally be taken as an indication of evil intent. With one like Qualcomm doubly so.

But since a lot of the code is GPL or similar they cannot just grab rights which they do not have in the first place. However: other stuff do they surely not have to give due warning so people can remove their content ?

I suspect that a lot of the community will just move elsewhere and let them fester in their own malevolence.

[An_Old_Dog]

Re: " Qualcomm quietly rewrote the terms of service "

But since a lot of the code is GPL or similar they cannot just grab rights which they do not have in the first place.

But they can grab those rights -- by simply doing it.

If you object, you have to pay for a solicitor and (successfully) sue them. During the 1980s, my mum worked as a legal secretary in the US, and told me launching a lawsuit there started at US$20K -- it's surely more, now -- which you must pay up-front. This money forms a sort of fund which the solicitors draw on for their billable hours and court filing fees. This 'fund' must be replenished in a timely manner by the client, else work on the suit stops.

Alternatively, solicitors there may agree to work on a contingency fee basis, wherein they put up the money for filing fees, etc., and are reimbursed for those fees, and their billable hours, for a percentage of any money (if any) recovered.

Solicitors don't make contingency-fee agreements for cases they do not think they can both win and recover money from.

[Like a badger]

Re: " Qualcomm quietly rewrote the terms of service "

"Solicitors don't make contingency-fee agreements for cases they do not think they can both win and recover money from."

That's correct, on the other hand Qualcomm are exactly the sort of big business that's worth targeting by contingent fee lawyers, or litigation-funded lawyers. Qualcomm are big, rich, and American, and can be sued in the US. It's no good targeting a European business in Europe because (***broadly speaking***) punitive damages don't exist in the way they do in the US, and often the plaintiff is liable for the defendants costs if they lose. There's also a much better developed third party litigation funding sector in the US.

Had the pre-Qualcomm Arduino changed their terms, I suspect they'd not have been worth suing based on the prospective payoff, certainly in Europe.

[Rich 2]

Re: " Qualcomm quietly rewrote the terms of service "

Well I’m sure the code and design details etc etc are well distributed by now so someone with enough interest could recombine them all and effectively fork the whole thing, based on the old open licenses.

And Q could do nothing about it

[I could be a dog really]

Re: " Qualcomm quietly rewrote the terms of service "

And Q could do nothing about it

Except sue whoever does it, claim copyright infringement, and drag it out for a few years. Yes, if done right, Q would have no basis for a claim, but that would not stop an evil corporation with deep pockets doing it just to cripple whoever annoys them. The big question would be whether it got tossed out of court before the defendant was bankrupt.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: " Qualcomm quietly rewrote the terms of service "

They can, and would, just sue. Have fun.

[Anonymous Coward]

Brothers (or sisters) in arms (and AVRs)

Welcome to Qualcomm, twinned with Broadcom.

Acquire, monetize, trash.

[Liam Proven]

Re: Brothers (or sisters) in arms (and AVRs)

> Acquire, monetize, trash.

A bit like "embrace, extend, extinguish" then...

[Pete 2]

Yesterday's tech

> "It was great knowing you Arduino, RIP. Hello, RP2040 and ESP32

Twenty years ago when Arduinos arrived, they were revolutionary. These days the hardware is increasingly irrelevant. The legacy that Arduino has is the huge amount of user-contributed code and it seems to me that is the only value associated with the boards now.

[Evilgoat76]

Re: Yesterday's tech

Moved to ESP/STM32 a while back thankfully and dropped the IDE not long after. Sadly it WAS useful for really quick and dirty stuff that I didnt really care much about and didnt feel like fighting Eclipse over.

[John Sager]

Re: Yesterday's tech

I never really did anything significant with Arduino, I was mostly doing stuff on Linux. When I decided to dip my toe into non-Linux embedded stuff again I went to STM32/FreeRTOS, and latterly to RP2040/2350. However Arduino has been seriously good at raising a cohort of software people who also understand the nuts and bolts of the software/hardware interface and its foibles. Sad that that avenue is effectively cut off by legal issues. We don't want to have to bone up on legal foot guns or pay lawyers to do it for us.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Yesterday's tech

That's a huge value to new users and the 5v logic is more forgiving for the same demographic. This doesn't apply to the fancier models of course. Meanwhile Qualcomm things they are competing with RPi for the embedded space and the DIY community is a footnote.

[Dwarf]

Been putting it off

I've been putting off a migration from Arduino to ESP-IDF for a couple of boards that are 100% mine. my design, my code, my ideas, my bugs, my feature roadmap. Quallcomm can go and swivel if they think they have any rights over my IP.

The only thing Arduino was good for was to get a whole lot of knowledge into peoples heads about how modular electronics and modular software could work together.

The libraries were where the main intelligence was, knowing how to talk to this widget in a manner that I can port across any of a family of microcontroller boards

But, the basic protocols are just that - GPIO, I2C, UART, SPI, etc. they are not hard to learn.

My only concern is keeping my current code base stable, whilst the firestorm consumes everything. Time to go and download all the current generation libraries, or make sure all my libraries are up to date.

I hope someone forks Arduino, Dave Jones over on the EEVBlog seems to have a domain called LibreDuino or something along those lines that he's looking to give a new home.

Something along the same lines is needed to help the next generation of engineers get up and running, where they can choose which brand of screwdrivers and spanners they want to buy. Electronics should be the same.

I'm also wondering how many people will delete their libraries from Arduino and just make them available somewhere else - the PlatformIO Registry perhaps ??

[MachDiamond]

Re: Been putting it off

"The only thing Arduino was good for was to get a whole lot of knowledge into peoples heads about how modular electronics and modular software could work together.""

It was also lawyer-free which meant it was very inexpensive (mostly). Even a hardware hack like me could bang out an inelegant functioning prototype of something in a weekend to show a new product concept. I had also done some cheap and cheerful movie/tv props that would look just fine and brake down into useful modules once again afterwards. I also built some sci-fi weapons that are still around that blink an LED when the actor pulls the trigger which makes it easy to sync visual and audio effects that track their movements. There's also spare outputs that can be purposed for other things so it's easy to make mods along with the usual array of climbing LED indicators and color shifting lights, decrementing number displays.... Some things are easy enough to just hardwire, but it's more of an issue to make changes without a total rebuild and props aren't often easy to service.

[JohnCr]

History Repeats Its Self

Read my comments in the last Arduino/Qualcomm story. Read the stories of the VMware/Qualcomm mess. Qualcomm has become a technology parasite. They acquire companies, change contract terms, increase pricing, and alienate the companies customers.

Soon Arduino will be dead. Qualcomm will kill what made it important and great.

It is time to move on. It is time to leave Arduino. I STRONGLY recommend all Arduino supporters and develpers download all their contributions to date and secure their Intellectual Property rights over them. Repost all your work to another platform that will respect the open source and maker community. Stop supporting, stop developing, and stop using Arduino technology as soon as you can. Move to another platform ASAP. If you have a successful business based on Arduino, your good days are numbered. As Qualcomm precedes with doing to Arduino as they did to VMware your ability to conduct business will be seriously impacted. Your customers will be hit with new fees and licensing terms.

Qualcomm's only interest in Arduino is to bleed its customers. If you look at their recent history this should be abundantly obvious. There are alternatives. It is time to move on.

[An_Old_Dog]

Re: History Repeats Its Self

I think you meant "VMware/Broadcomm ...

But yes, the mal-pattern is the same.

Upvoted.

[Blogitus Maximus]

Essentially dead to some hobbyists

The first step to enshittification was flogging this community driven thing into the arms [*] of big tech vampires.

"It's dead to me" will be the likely refrain going forward for hobbyists like me. I've only ever used Pi stuff and was considering a look at Arduino for a future project, but no longer.

*No pun intended.

[Dan 55]

The corporate answer to CC and GPL

Is to simply appropriate what was once the commons and not give a fuck because you make billions in profit a year, so if some deluded fool were to try and start a court case over this they'd lose anyway.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: The corporate answer to CC and GPL

That seems to have been the Arduino plan too if you care to read beyond the 'official narrative'.

[bombastic bob]

Re: The corporate answer to CC and GPL

well, forking everything on the software side NOW can help to preserver the OSS stuff.

I have an XMega library I use a lot for custom hardware projects and use an older version of Arduino's IDE to build it. Pretty easy to use, really. I wrote it by adapting it from Arduino years ago and it's GPL'd etc.. The XMega is an ATMega processor with better peripherals and twice clock speed, works without a crystal or resonator, and runs at 3.3v but is otherwise compatible. NVRAM for programs up to 256K and most have 2 or more serial ports, making it useful for a LOT more things... anyway making your own compatible board with this other processor is possible but you need to pay attention to 3.3v vs 5V levels.

NOW - will QUALCOMM "ALLOW" experimenters to do this...???

[Steve Davies 3]

I'm sure that Broadcomm are watching this

with a view of buying as much of the RPi org that they can get their filthy, greasy mits on.

The "If they can do it, so can we..." mantra

[retiredFool]

Re: I'm sure that Broadcomm are watching this

I've not heard, but is RPi considering building their own processor? My understanding is the pico is theirs. Perhaps they could roll out a pi-6 which is rolled by them. I mean either way its TSMC that is going to make it.

[Will Godfrey]

Re: I'm sure that Broadcomm are watching this

They are not considering it. They've done it and it's in the pi5.

[werdsmith]

Re: I'm sure that Broadcomm are watching this

Not a processor. The RP1 is the Raspberry PI interface / "south bridge" device.

The SOC/processor is still the Broadcom one, but in the D0 stepping version a lot of the unused/unneeded logic is removed.

[ForthIsNotDead]

Just to clarify

The Arduino acquisition has nothing at all to do with the hardware that the Arduino was built around. The ATMEGA328P was originally produced by ST Micro, and was bought by Microchip. It was a successful, respected microcontroller before Arduino came along. All Arduino did was expose that chip to the maker community.

So by all means, drop Arduino. But you don't have to stop using the 328, or the ATTINY range of MCUs. Just migrate to the VS Code IDE and install PlatformIO and you'll be completely Arduino free.

[jake]

Re: Just to clarify

Beer.

[Dwarf]

Re: Just to clarify

Yes, but there are other conditions ...

PlatformIO can use the Arduino framework and I expect this to be the norm for most that just migrated to PIO for a better development experience as it uses VSCode as the IDE, has GIT integration and JTAG support, etc. So, just because you are using PIO doesn't necessarily mean you are Arduino free.

There are other frameworks, see PlatformIO Supported Frameworks and you can switch, but you will need to make some code changes and also need to have relevant libraries for the other frameworks, this is likely to be the sticking point for most projects, since many will have a display, touch, some widget sensor that the design relies on etc. I expect to see a lot of library creators migrate their libraries and I hope these end up in the Platform IO Registry, with their code in the authors GIT repos.

Its probably sensible to download any libraries you depend on and get the last version of the pre-acquisition IDE, so you can watch from the sidelines whilst the enshitification continues.

You are only Arduino free, within PIO, when it is not configured for the Arduino framework and your source codes does not have any #include <Arduino.h> or any #include "Arduino.h" lines in your code and you no longer have the setup() and loop() functions, nor use any of the arduino functions for things such as I2C, SPI, UART, etc.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Just to clarify

No, because QC suddenly chasing the license doesn't make the released headers/etc. not work as they already do. You don't need to update them.

[bombastic bob]

Re: Just to clarify

NEVER VSCODE!!!

Old IDE should work JUST FINE with legacy designs. All we have to do is FORK it. There is NO need to use Micros~1 CRAPWARE for ANY of this.

[FIA]

Re: Just to clarify

Nurse!! He's gone again.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Just to clarify

Why would you use VS Code? It's not like the ecosystem has collapsed.

[jake]

Alternative option.

Around a decade ago I was looking for a way to upgrade my 40ish year old greenhouse controller, which ran on a hand-built by myself LSI11+S100 bus system. I looked at Pi, and I looked at Arduino ... and decided to take a step back from even that simplicity, and went with a bare-bones ATMega328 on a bit of development board, and build it up from scratch, starting in late 2018.

It was a fun project for myself, a couple of my nieces and nephews, and my grand daughter. The end result is several working greenhouses, which have run non-stop for several years now.

Yes, there is a fairly large online community for info on the ATMega328.

Yes, there was a bit of a learning curve, but with the kids involved that was kind of the point.

Recommended.

[blu3b3rry]

I remember reading the original article mentioning that Qualcomm had bought Arduino and thinking "urgh, this'll go to shit".

It's a shame to see that the cynicism wasn't misplaced....never dabbled with arduinos myself, but enjoyed reading about the projects people do with them.

[Will Godfrey]

Bastards

I've done a lot of work with Arduinos in the past, but more recently have used the same board multiple times, programming the chip, then flipping it out and installing in a custom PCB. Finally getting a new blank chip for the board and bit-banging the bootloader in.

I'll be looking for alternative programming code, and working entirely on plain boards from now on.

[wobbly1]

Given the previous controversy and legal dispute concerning the attempted privatization of a portion of the Arduino ecosystem specifically the disagreement between the original founders (Massimo Banzi, David Cuartielles, Tom Igoe, and Gianluca Martino) and a company led by Federico Musto (Arduino Srl, later renamed BCMI)I have decided to cease all future library contributions."

"This new blow creates a major schism within the community, setting a precedent that is unacceptable. Consequently, I plan to migrate my final ESP32 programs to MicroPython and discontinue the use of the Arduino IDE entirely. It is truly a disappointment to see such a valuable, open-source pathway into electronics compromised by these actions.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you were using the IDE there's no reason to stop, they can't take it from you, it was a minor fork of the IDE Processing uses and there are going to be forks anyway.

If you don't use it you don't have to, but if you do, none of this will stop you from continuing with what you have and the open source community will migrate off of QC's space.

[Gary Stewart]

Checking the comments on the Adafruit stinging assement link brought up this

"Further digging to verify my stance here led me to find a crucial piece of information that I think lends a lot of needed context to what's happening.

These changes from Qualcomm only affect the Arduino Cloud Service. The Term changes only apply specifically to the service alone, which is an entirely optional service and not a core part of the hardware/software project.

These legal changes look more like the standard SaaS legal language we see from other cloud providers and services.

Im even less worried now."

So for now I'll wait to see whats really up with the new license before I jump to conclusions. I certainly hope this commenter is right.

[wobbly1]

Re: Checking the comments on the Adafruit stinging assement link brought up this

"The new documents introduce an irrevocable, perpetual license over anything users upload, broad surveillance-style monitoring of AI features, a clause preventing users from identifying potential patent infringement, years-long retention of usernames even after account deletion, and the integration of all user data (including minors) into Qualcomm's global data ecosystem.

If that were not worrying enough, it notes:

Users are now explicitly forbidden from reverse-engineering or even attempting to understand how the platform works unless Arduino gives permission."

I'm not sure there is a wait and see option for these moves , the longer you wait the greater the potential for harm.

[Dwarf]

Re: Checking the comments on the Adafruit stinging assement link brought up this

I'm interested by the concept of reverse engineering, when its all just open source, source code. There is no reverse engineering, you are simply reading the source code, like every other developer does with any other code base.

Secondly, they do not own the IP of the chips that they are using, the respective manufacturers do, so no point arguing about how the I2C interface works in a AVR or an STM32, its all printed in the data sheets, again just ready for engineers to read. All of this information is already in the public domain and has been for a very long time.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Checking the comments on the Adafruit stinging assement link brought up this

If you can’t reverse engineer from the binaries, how can you determine it was built using open source…

[mike.dee]

Re: Checking the comments on the Adafruit stinging assement link brought up this

Maybe they are designing a board with some Qualcomm microcontroller that needs, for instance, some sort of BIOS to boot and to be used, and that binary blob is closed source. The open souce part will use the function calls to the BIOS routines.

In this case forbidding the reverse engineering makes difficult to build clones of this board, even if somebody sources those Qualcomm microcontrollers.

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: Checking the comments on the Adafruit stinging assement link brought up this

In other words...

All your code belongs to us from here to eternity and no we are not going to give it back to you even if you ask us nicely (or take us to court and if you do, we have more and better lawyers on speed dial than you).

Qualcomm seems to be saying to Broadcomm, "Hold my beer" in the race to being the most detested Company in IT (ok, so the likes of Oracle etc will not like that)

[Gary Stewart]

Re: Checking the comments on the Adafruit stinging assement link brought up this

"These changes from Qualcomm only affect the Arduino Cloud Service. The Term changes only apply specifically to the service alone, which is an entirely optional service and not a core part of the hardware/software project."

Did you miss this part?

[Ex-PFY]

Re: Checking the comments on the Adafruit stinging assement link brought up this

I believe they apply to the service AND platform (I wonder if they count GH things as their subsites):

> The Site is part of the platform developed and managed by Arduino, which allows users to take part in the discussions on the Arduino forum, the Arduino blog, the Arduino User Group, the Arduino Discord channel, and the Arduino Project Hub, and to access the Arduino main website, subsites, Arduino Cloud, Arduino Courses, Arduino Certifications, Arduino Docs, the Arduino EDU kit sites to release works within the Contributor License Agreement program, and to further develop the Arduino open source ecosystem (collectively, the “Platform”).

The friday blog post qualification by Arduino, that they don't own all your stuff in perpetuity, feels like the qualcomm lawyers and arduino don't talk at all, and arduino didn't read their own terms closely enough. That or they are skirting around the term "own" and ignoring that they now have a perpetual irrevocable royalty free license to all content.

> User grants to Arduino the non-exclusive, royalty free, transferable, sub-licensable, perpetual, irrevocable, to the maximum extent allowed by applicable law, for the duration of intellectual property rights and without detriment to User’s statutory rights (including applicable data protection rights), right to use the Content published and/or updated on the Platform as well as to distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, publish and make publicly visible all material, including software, libraries, text contents, images, videos, comments, text, audio, software, libraries, or other data (collectively, “Content”) that User publishes, uploads, or otherwise makes available to Arduino throughout the world using any means and for any purpose, including the use of any username or nickname specified in relation to the Content. Should the Content be software created by User pursuant to the Contributor License Agreement, such Content shall be subject to the terms of the Contributor License Agreement. User expressly acknowledges that Content may include User’s Personal Data and, where applicable, Personal Data of minors for whom User is the legal guardian.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Checking the comments on the Adafruit stinging assement link brought up this

The harm is claiming ownership of code they do not have creative ownership of. They can't change those licences. The IDE isn't even something They own entirely.

It's an IP grab instigated by shareholders and management who have no idea how angry it this weeks and don't care. I'm sure they want to mine it for "AI" training too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Breadboard + AVR + usb->uart + (optional)crystal is basically an Arduino. Just flash the bootloader on it and you are good to go.

If Qualcomm bought the AVR rights, I would be more worried.

[david1024]

Wonder

I don't see a profit maker here, and I don't think any sane person would. Are they looking for a write-down and we'll actually get some benefit here?

--the-perpetual-optimus.

[M.V. Lipvig]

Re: Wonder

You can make more selling to millions of poor people making a dollar a head than you can selling to a few rich people at 10,000 a head. The idea here is likely "these poors invested a lot of time and (for them) a lot of money so they won't have a choice. They'll just have to keep buying even if we raise prices and sell subscriptions."

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Wonder

It's almost definitely about machine learning.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's all complete bullshit, scaremongering and FUD

https://blog.arduino.cc/2025/11/21/the-arduino-terms-of-service-and-privacy-policy-update-setting-the-record-straight

[Anonymous Coward]

Banzi was always a cock, is still a cock and will continue to be a cock, maybe Elmo could be his friend?.

So sad his desire for wealth sold out the very people who made his business but I guess that's greed for you...

[martinusher]

`The Arduino Model Endures

The original model for selling processors and their microcontroller offshoots was exclusive so it was relatively difficult to incorporate processors into simple projects because of the investment in resources needed to use them. Vendors were reluctant to provide parts and support to people they thought of as hobbyists so unless you were in the trade -- working for a company that was already a decent sized customer or had other similar contacts -- you just didn't have access to anything usable at a credible price. One upstart vendor started making cheap parts and development tools readily available but you still needed to be well versed in the technology to make use of them. This is where Arduino comes in -- it took those parts and their toolsets and 'consumerized' them, developing a whole category of development systems in the process that has become more or less a standard.

Now just about every vendor is making platforms that conform to this general model, even ones not normally associated with hobbyists like Texas Instruments and Lattice Semiconductor. Vendors have figured out that the key to selling parts is to make them accessible. This generates a user base who will include people who will then use the parts in live products. Quallcomm, based on their industry profile, probably don't understand this yet. They're like a throwback to the early days, treating every aspect of microcotroller use as a profit center.

[Dav_Daddy]

Well I stand corrected

It looks like I owe everyone I admonished for jumping to conclusions about what Qcom would do to Arduino an apology.

I was a big enough man to come on here and tell all of you that you were being ridiculous, hysterical and overreacting so I guess it's time to be a big enough man to come on here and say it appears that all of you were right.

[skwdenyer]

Re: Well I stand corrected

No, I think you were right first time around. This appears to be a load of nonsense.

https://blog.arduino.cc/2025/11/21/the-arduino-terms-of-service-and-privacy-policy-update-setting-the-record-straight/ clarifies things - the Terms are referring to the Arduino cloud offering. No, you can't attempt to reverse engineer their SaaS offering. Yes, you have to grant them a licence for anything you upload (otherwise they couldn't share it on your behalf). No this doesn't change the fundamentals of the Arduino proposition.

[DrXym]

Just write them out of the picture

Arduino was beloved for its openness. If Qualcomm doesn't want to follow suit then we'll enjoy watching them seal the coffin. It's not like there aren't other viable alternatives.

[harrys]

hey ur slamming the wrong guys

the real bastardios are the guys and gals who made the big monies selling it knowing what it would turn into

but hey they profited handomely and as such are lauded and envied by all and sundry

its capitalism baby, but not as we know it :)

[TeeCee]

...update saying it made the latest changes to help with "clarity, compliance, and supporting the innovative environment you expect."

Translation - "Fuck you, here's a canned answer from PR".

[I could be a dog really]

OK, so summary of alternatives ?

Given that the consensus seems to be "ditch Arduino", could ElReg do a piece summarising the current state of things so people like me who have only dabbled a little can see what our options are now ?