I agree, this has potential. This is the Red Hat & Fedora two-pronged economic model: Maybe LinuxCNC could do something like this?
EMC2 = The correct choice for the hobbyist and weekend machinist EMC2plus = The correct choice for the company who must have paid support EMC2 = Free to buy, No support fees, Email or no support EMC2plus = Free to buy, Varying support fees, Varying phone/on-site support This is pretty sketchy, a lot of details to work out, but the concept is good. Mid-sized companies get the support they must have to produce parts, Hobbyists (and large companies) get a very good CNC system for free, and the LinuxCNC group gets a little income to pay developers and support people. It's a win-win-win. Thanks, Kim -----Original Message----- >From: Stuart Stevenson <[email protected]> >Sent: May 29, 2009 9:59 AM >To: "Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC)" <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: [Emc-users] WITS (Wichita Industrial Trade Show) > >On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 12:38 AM, Kirk Wallace ><[email protected]> wrote: >> The description of the show seemed to indicate that it would cater to >> industrial purchasers and vendors. Would EMC2 be a good fit for this >> show? I have confidence that EMC2 can run complex machines. I'm just not >> sure most people in the market for complex CNC machines are right for >> EMC2 (yet). >> -- > Many of the 'people in the market' for complex CNC machines cannot >run a machine. They must have confidence in layers. > >1. the machine will make parts >2. the machine is reliable >3. repair is timely >4. repair is inexpensive >5. the operator interface is usable to the general operator >6. cost is comparable > >There will be other criteria in some circles. > > I will not worry about this yet. We have no clue what the reaction >will be. It may be very 'yawn - ho hum' from the machine buyers. > BUT, the average machinist with dream of owning a machine, that may >be a different story. With the economy as it is there are now a lot of >CNC machines for almost no money. That is the correct price. If the >average machinist knows EMC2 can DO the job and not just talk the talk >there will be a great interest. >thanks >Stuart > >------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Register Now for Creativity and Technology (CaT), June 3rd, NYC. CaT >is a gathering of tech-side developers & brand creativity professionals. Meet >the minds behind Google Creative Lab, Visual Complexity, Processing, & >iPhoneDevCamp as they present alongside digital heavyweights like Barbarian >Group, R/GA, & Big Spaceship. http://p.sf.net/sfu/creativitycat-com >_______________________________________________ >Emc-users mailing list >[email protected] >https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Register Now for Creativity and Technology (CaT), June 3rd, NYC. CaT is a gathering of tech-side developers & brand creativity professionals. Meet the minds behind Google Creative Lab, Visual Complexity, Processing, & iPhoneDevCamp as they present alongside digital heavyweights like Barbarian Group, R/GA, & Big Spaceship. http://p.sf.net/sfu/creativitycat-com _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
