> From: Stuart Stevenson [mailto:stus...@gmail.com] > LinuxCNC is not Staples. There is no Big Red easy button. Doesn't mean that there can't be a Big Red easy button for a basic install.
> A lot of words to say this. The LinuxCNC developers (past and present) give > their time and effort to this project. I offer a hearty THANK YOU and > appreciate the base I have with which to help achieve my goals. I too offer a THANK YOU and do wish to say if I haven't said it clearly enough I am very impressed with the system. The more I dig into it the more I see the thought that has gone into the internals. I forget which Comp. Sci book I found this in but it was a cross reference table with I think 5 columns and 5 rows with the same entries. Speed of Operation, Code Readability, Documentation, Code Size, Speed of Development. The table showed that many of the items are mutually exclusive. You can't always have fast code and also small code. As an example, for the programmers reading this, unrolling loops into linear sequences is faster but takes more space. A jump table for a switch/case statement with 256 possible choices and 7 entries is also faster than the compiled if then elseif then elseif.... that a switch/case statement becomes. Want it developed fast? Might not be efficient, readable, documented, fast or small code size but you did get it yesterday instead of two months from now. And so on... When the volunteers write LinuxCNC code their world is that of a Linux expert and so likely never look up the syntax for the basic file find at the command line. And if they add the --help or is it -help or is it -? Or --? Well eventually the amateur stumbles on the help screen that quickly scrolls by. Luckily they can usually use the slider to look at the previous 4 pages that scrolled by way too fast. Hang on... wasn't there a 'more' or something like that. After 20 minutes on the internet they've found the example... and have forgotten why they wanted it. Me, I type the file I want into the search box on the GUI interface. And with respect to coding you will generally find that the 12 core processor means you can use an interpreted language that runs as fast as the compiled one on the older 1 core processor. So technology, if you wait long enough allows that quick development with Python and blazing fast speed of compiled C or machine language, which are usually mutually exclusive. Anyway, something to think about. If we set up a rule for LinuxCNC that stated a program isn't complete until it can be understood without external help files, documents and web pages that are out of date the moment joints are added to axis in the HAL file we might see better code? Probably not but it's on my I wish list... Have a happy and safe New Year. John > Stuart _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
