Arduino branches put aside differences to merge as one company

Arduino, educators’ leading open-source ecosystem, has arranged a settlement agreement between Arduino LLC and Arduino srl. The announcement comes after troubling differences between the two organizations, including disputes over which side had a trademark over the name Arduino and who the true founders of the company were. Arduino LLC co-founder Massimo Banzi and Arduino srl CEO Federico Musto announced the development at World Maker Faire New York.  

“Today is one of the best days in Arduino history,” said Banzi. “This allows us to start a new course for Arduino made of constructive dialogue and disruptive innovation in the education, Makers, and IoT fields.”  

Instead of maintaining two separate branches separately, Banzi and Musto will oversee the new “Arduino Holding,” set to materialize by the end of 2016. This new division will handle wholesale distribution of current and future products, while the not-for-profit “Arduino Foundation” will uphold Arduino’s desktop IDE, which allows a user to write code and then upload it.  

Consumer response to the news seems to be fairly positive, with some people even saying the cooperation is ideal for the Arduino community. Commenters on the original press release also shared what they think is next for the company. The user ShirleyDulcey wrote, “I expect that the two versions of the classic Arduino IDE will be merged. The code is mostly the same, but the included board support is different.”  

Another user wondered if the branches will “consolidate their websites and their software efforts now.” The concern behind this comment was tied to the inconvenience of having incompatible IDEs.  

“We are thrilled to resolve the issues that have taken place over the past couple of years, and the team is working together to continue to offer the best open hardware and software,” said Musto. “Arduino developers will continue to see amazing technical developments, including NFC, BLE, voice controls, and more, to fuel the IoT growth and other innovations.”

Source: Arduino Blog, ArsTechnica, Arduino Software, Hackaday