Embedded software projects under GPL

[Alessandro Rubini]

Hello.

> I am currently working on an embedded software project.
> I like to release it under the GPL if it has left the
> early stage of implementation.

Great.
 
> Is there a place to put embedded software including the
> hardware design?

Releasing under the GPL doesn't mean placing your work on servers
managed by other people. I think you should consider publishing your
work on your own servers. [sorry if this is reknown, I couldn't tell
it from your message, and this is a typical misunderstanding]

But if you really want to refer to external hosting, I don't think
there are sites specialized in collecting such projects; actually
there aren't many such projects nowadays.  You can still ask to host
your project in the known software repositories, like savannah or any
other such site. I think you have high changes of getting a favorable
response.
 
> The embedded software is normaly tightly coupled with
> underlaying hardware. Is it possible to put the hardware
> design (e.g. schematics) under GPL as well?

Yes. I've done that in the past too.

Actually, the main issue I see is that the GPL uses the word "Program"
to refer to the work covered by the license; you may want to add a few
lines in front of the canonical GPL text explaining that the work
covered by the license, although called "Program" in the license
includes other material (listing it).

You may also consider other license, and using different licensing for
different types of work, as other suggested, but the GPL may well
be a good choice for the whole of the project, as you suggest.

Hope this helps
/alessandro