OpenCola

[PartisanEntity]

Interesting little article:


If you’ve been to a computer show in recent months you might have seen it: a shiny silver drink can with a ring-pull logo and the words “opencola” on the side. Inside is a fizzy drink that tastes very much like Coca-Cola. Or is it Pepsi?There’s something else written on the can, though, which sets the drink apart. It says “check out the source at opencola.com.” Go to that Web address and you’ll see something that’s not available on Coca-Cola’s website, or Pepsi’s — the recipe for cola. For the first time ever, you can make the real thing in your own home.

Continued (http://everythingelse.wordpress.com/2007/02/18/opencola-open-source-coca-cola/)

[barney_1]

Hey, nice! That recipe needs a wiki.

[Mateo]

think i'll make some, alter it just slightly, and then copyright it.

[Peyton]

Open-source software is nice, but it ends there (or somewhere just beyond).

[machoo02]

This is very similar to Free Beer (http://www.freebeer.org/blog/)

[rolando2424]

I've read about this cola in another forum...

I think the notice is a bit old (or we're talking about different Opencolas...

[banjobacon]

Recipes are not subject to copyright, making the open licensing of OpenCola and Free Beer pretty meaningless. They're about as open as any other recipe you can find on the internet or a cookbook.

[Shay Stephens]

This does underscore the general movement of open things outside of software. There is an open bios project, and open graphics card project, and and open car project to name a few. We are entering a new world and this is the start of it.

And when the open fabrication machines hit the home, small parts manufacturing will be done in house for many things. The potential for self sufficiency with open tools and products is growing and growing.

[bodycoach2]

This is one of those things Cory Doctorow (http://craphound.com/bio.php) was in on, when it began.

[FuturePilot]

Wow! That's a great article. And considering that the recipe for Coke is top secret it's like proprietary software.

[KoRnholio]

Recipes are not subject to copyright, making the open licensing of OpenCola and Free Beer pretty meaningless. They're about as open as any other recipe you can find on the internet or a cookbook.

The difference is you can't find the popular recipes on the internet or in cookbooks (for example, those of specific colas or beers), because they're kept secret. Licensing is irrelevant, when the recipe is not made public.

[banjobacon]

The difference is you can't find the popular recipes on the internet or in cookbooks (for example, those of specific colas or beers), because they're kept secret. Licensing is irrelevant, when the recipe is not made public.

I'm not saying these recipes are as open as secret recipes (like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, etc.), I'm saying they're as open as all published recipes have ever been. Recipes for beer and soda have existed prior to these, and people have been free to legally make the drink, distribute it, and modify it whichever way they choose.

It just seems a little silly to me for people to get excited over a six year old marketing gimmick. It also seems silly to apply a free software copyright license to something which is neither software, nor copyright-able.