On 1/7/25 17:19, Steffen Möller via Emc-developers wrote:
Hello,
Gesendet: Dienstag, 7. Januar 2025 um 10:43
Von: "gene heskett" <ghesk...@shentel.net>
An: emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
Betreff: Re: [Emc-developers] Gentoo+LinuxCNC image update
....
Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
I am for it, with my toothpick sized oar, debian came around and wanted
to add linuxcnc to the deb system. They have since filed more bugs
against it, trying to make it fit their idea of how it should work I
guess, but I don't see it as a plus for us.
...
I agree that the upload to Debian (which has indeed happened, see
https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/linuxcnc)
had no immediate affect on the capabilities of LinuxCNC.
but we are getting threats of removal about monthly, over stuff that has
no effect on us users. We have been doing the docs with our tools for
decades, and now a new doc processing system and tooling is being
dictated. The main .pdf document has been expanded around 300 pages
since wheezy but is still not up to your stds. As a long time user
(pushing 25 years) it seems like harassment. Granted, it is in the
longer view, an improvement in docs only but not to LinuxCNC's
functionality. We would rather be making hot swarf.
My $0.02.
But somehow the number installations reported on popularity-contest is
increasing
(see https://qa.debian.org/popcon-graph.php?packages=linuxcnc-uspace) ever
since.
And with every installation comes some extra eyeballs that may improve
something somewhere.
Whenever someone sticks with the LinuxCNC community, it does not matter how
they learned
about the project. And newcomers will find it easiest to address some annoyance
at the periphery (documentation, typos, tests, ...)
as a start. This is also where I think LinuxCNC has improved a lot over the
past years - both wrt to infrastructure and content.
Some 40 years ago the term "Computer Integrated Manufactoring"
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-integrated_manufacturing)
came up. This is where I see the role of a distribution: Make stuff work with
each other. To me, Debian is not about improving
LinuxCNC itself. But people will look at it with very different perspectives. Some are
mere technical like "security"
or "incompatibilities with library updates". Others ask why it is so difficult
to execute LinuxCNC from within FreeCAD.
And maybe something then happens - preferably it is just something missing in
the documentation.
Parts of the tests on a software to interoperate correctly in a distribution
are automated.
There are certain paths that e.g. an icon for a desktop is supposed to be
using, so that other tools can find that
icon. Something executable should have a manual page with the same name, so the
"man" application help spit out some help.
The reports of such tests are published on
https://udd.debian.org/lintian/?packages=linuxcnc .
And a user that does not know about our GitHub repository can send bug reports
to Debian's bug tracking system at
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?dist=unstable;package=linuxcnc-uspace
.
I think that LinuxCNC wins once it is obvious to everyone that the time
invested is returned. And that LinuxCNC is
secure and stable enough not to damage the hardware or the person using it.
With every typo (in the code or the documentation)
we likely lose a decision maker (be it a home shop or a developer of some
larger machine manufacturer)
to some closed source solution (that are hiding their typos :-) ) because of
some felt insecurity.
Therefore I cannot praise efforts like
https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/pull/3253 or
https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/pull/3233 enough that communicate an "attention
to detail and correctness".
And that communication is important to have not only for the outsiders to make
a good first impression.
It is also a perpetual reminder for ourselves.
Happy New Year everyone
Steffen
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Cheers, Gene Heskett, CET.
--
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author, 1940)
If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.
- Louis D. Brandeis
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