Hi Einar,
I was waiting for one of the Linux converts to pick up on this discussion!
Don't get me wrong, what you are saying is true IF you are comfortable with the Linux platform.Originally Posted by ESjaavik
Personally, I am not.
I have tried to install Linux from way back, Early Red Hat, Suise 6, Fedora - the EMC "BrainDead" install and on and on.... NEVER got it right
As to the cost issue, Yes it will be more costly to get it going on a Micro$oft platform, no arguements there!!!
But if the enthusiast is NOT an IT fundi and does not have an intimate personal relationship with the Linux OS, there are also other "costs" to be considered:
1) Frustration in trying to get your Linux based PC working properly in the first place. This has always been my own biggest headache with any Linux OS install that I have tried.
2) This "frustration" then takes the enthusiast down the M$ Window$ route simply because they probably already have a Window$ based PC at home or if they are prepared to continually reboot, the MS-DOS route for the CAM functionality.
3) The choice of CAD software is very much a personal one and the majority of choice lies in the Window$ platform range. Some very good - some very bad, some expensive and some free. The choice is up to the individual.
I would not like to know how many folk have simply chucked the CNC hobby because of the cost in time and money to get them to where the REALLY want to be - watching thier (probably home built) CNC Mill machine some component that they have spent hours designing.
Have a look thru the threads on this site and count the number of folk looking for solutions to broken tools, gouged workpieces and bad finishes. I have seen a number of them.
OK - as it is open source, we have somewhere to go to see how others do it and either "borrow" some of the routines as is or make the necessary adjustments to suite our purpose. As long as the results are also free to the public, where is the harm?Originally Posted by ESjaavik
And if our group effort makes a solution that WORKS, even if it costs a couple of hundred Dollars, and we save one person from walking away from the hobby, I personally thing it would have been worth it!
As an aside: a large majority of the members of this forum earn thier income in US$. There are some of us that don't. When we see a price tag of US$100.00 we go into shock as it equates to a LOT of money in our local currency.
Don't you just love the human race? They are always trying to invent a "BETTER MOUSETRAP".Originally Posted by ESjaavik
One of the original definition parmaters that I put forward was that this project would be Micro$oft Window$ based. Why? Most of us are more comfortable with Window$ than with Linux.Originally Posted by ESjaavik
I am not saying that the EMC/Linux solution is inferior or bad. On the contrary, it is probably the best solution available at this moment. But not for many of us out there!
What we need is a way to take the output from our favorite (Window$ based) CAD application and make our (proudly home built) mill cut our parts from blocks of raw material without the problems that are inherently encountered when using Window$.
Best
Aubrey