1 -- How long have you been involved in LinuxCNC?
Off and on since about 2001.
2 -- Do you consider yourself to be heavily involved or only modestly
involved? What is the nature of your involvement? As a developer? As a
user?
Getting more involved every day. I am using it more each year in
the Manufacturing Engineering class I teach and in custom machines
I assemble in my lab. I would like to get more involved in development.
I've got a couple of BeagleboneBlacks and will be developing hardware
for them this summer, and perhaps tackle some software aspects.
3 -- So you believe that LinuxCNC should be actively promoted or that it
should be left alone to exist in peace?
I certainly encourage people to use it, and my students (senior Mech.Engr.)
get pretty excited when they can do CNC drawing on an etch-a-sketch
with only an hour of instruction. I don't know that there needs to be
a marketing budget and banner ads, but it is good to raise the profile
at least within the professional CNC community. I don't like it being
dismissed as "just PC based control".
4 -- Do you come to it as a free and excellent body of code available
for your own use or do you see it as part of what provides their livelihood?
At this point, the only aspect of my "livelihood" affected by LinuxCNC
is my use in class. I can see opportunities to do more with it in the
future.
5 -- Should it be protected by strong licensing from those who might
attempt to use it without contributing back to the community? Or should
it be sown upon the earth freely for anyone to use in any fashion they
wish without the hassles of legal contracts?
I have an extreme aversion to lawyers and legalese, so I'd rather keep
it simple. If some big operator makes a system using LCNC, it would
benefit #3 above, even if they didn't contribute valuable code back.
I don't think we've had problems with the commercial entities in the past,
have we? Smithy, araisrobotics, and other oem's seem to have contributed
code and list participation.
6 -- Should there be a formal organization that manages the future of
LinuxCNC?
It's been working pretty well as an informal group, but perhaps there
is a way to formalize without a big hassle. I would hate for the existing
leaders in the "movement" to drop out or get pushed out by some
formalization drive. I'd take the status quo over that outcome.
If you come to Wichita, it would be helpful if you've thought about
these questions. If you don't (and if you care) you should make your
opinions heard.
I'd love to come to Wichita, but don't have the time or budget for that
this summer.
-- Ralph
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