Peter, when I want to build (or also keep) up a business I have to be reliable > for the customers and grant continuity for my products. Therefore, I > have to demand just the same from my suppliers. I will have to put a lot > of money into my business, in most cases from loans, and have to keep > the risk of loss as low as possible. I will need banks and insurances > which want to calculate the risk of lending money to me and at which > cost. All this calls for professional solutions, as well in machinery > as in computer hard- and software, be they ingeniuous, modern, inventive > or not, they have to be reliable and calculable in the first place. A > large company with an international name gives me more of this security > than the best and most ingenious free product. This is why Linux can't > break though on the professional office market, and this is why LinuxCNC > can't make it on our professional production market. A lot simplified, > as the saying goes "if it costs nothing, it's worth nothing". >
I have nothing but respect for German reliability---but I live in the US which may have originated the 'fail fast' attitude that, on the whole, is quite successful. I was raised in the cultural meme of a failed businessman who would shoot himself in the head out of shame, so it was an eye opener for me to learn that an average successful entrepreneur in the US failed and went bankrupt several times before achieving success. We probably pay for that with less stable economy---when it's cranking it's really productive, but it's susceptible to bubbles and subsequent recessions. I think the times are changing and for better or worse the 'fail fast' model is gaining popularity around the world. Specifically about Linux, when I look around me I see that all my phones, my cable modem, half of my computers, and even my TV and DVD player all run Linux. It's an interesting dynamic---of course all those manufacturers care about stability and quality, so I imagine that they have internal teams that assure that it will work out. There's nothing that would prevent a large industrial equipment manufacturer from doing the same to adopt LinuxCNC. I think it's bound to happen when the price pressures arise and force people to look at the component costs---I noticed we have Chinese participants on this list, who sounded like they are more than hobbyists. As an aside, is there a market for second-hand machinery in Germany? a lot of the motivation for LinuxCNC is because people get depreciated machines from original owners, and they are either broken, or too expensive to maintain in the original configuration, so LCNC retrofit makes a lot of sense. I can see how this might be not a thing to do in Germany--would you agree? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LogMeIn Rescue: Anywhere, Anytime Remote support for IT. Free Trial Remotely access PCs and mobile devices and provide instant support Improve your efficiency, and focus on delivering more value-add services Discover what IT Professionals Know. Rescue delivers http://p.sf.net/sfu/logmein_12329d2d _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
