On 10/19/2014 11:39 AM, p...@wpnet.us wrote: > What will not be a driver of any switch is "fit and finish" as LinuxCNC still > lags Mach3 in this area.
Like all matters of aesthetics, user interface appearance is very subjective. However, I consider the LinuxCNC user interface to be vastly superior to Mach 3. Whenever I see Mach 3, the graphical interface looks clunky with very jaggy edges on the buttons and a very low-res look. I also think the bright primary colors lack a professional appearance although I suppose the colorful screen looks friendly to many Mach users, in much the same way that "DON'T PANIC" boldly emblazoned on the cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy increases its consumer appeal. To me, the colorful low resolution interface looks like educational software for pre-school children, circa 1986. Mach is a very successful product, and I'm too much of a defender of free market capitalism to begrudge them their success. They are clearly satisfying a significant portion of the hobbyist and low-end professional CNC market, and more power to them. I don't get it, but I don't need to get it. LinuxCNC doesn't look the same as many of the modern commercial CNC controllers from the big name machine manufacturers, but it looks similar to me. I love the graphical representation of the tool path. It does everything I need, and if I need anything else, I'm free to roll up my sleeves and start coding. With the ready availability of very low cost small commercial milling machines on the used market in this down economy (at least in the US) and the ease of installing and configuring LinuxCNC, I'm not sure how some of the manufacturers of $10,000 to $20,000 Mach based stepper motor driven machines are selling their products. I know people just starting out want a turn key solution with that new machine smell, but it looks like the market would spontaneously generate a few businesses that specialized in buying used machines in good mechanical condition with outdated or blown controls, cleaning them up, giving them a new coat of epoxy paint, installing LinuxCNC with readily available interface and drive electronics, and selling these much more capable machines for less than a new hobby machine... complete with delivery, setup, and two hours of training. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Comprehensive Server Monitoring with Site24x7. Monitor 10 servers for $9/Month. Get alerted through email, SMS, voice calls or mobile push notifications. Take corrective actions from your mobile device. http://p.sf.net/sfu/Zoho _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
