I mostly agree with Matt except I have found thought investment is usually pretty portable. Linuxcnc is fun and flexible. That is the only 'reason' needed. :) On Jun 13, 2013 11:13 AM, "Matt Shaver" <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 06:07:20 -0500 > Charles Steinkuehler <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Why do you use LinuxCNC and what are the features you like best? > <...> > > Help me out with some "talking points"! :) > > It's similar to the reason I use Linux (I guess, considering the reasons > I'm about to give, I should say GNU/Linux, but it's just too awkward). > > There are technologies that I need in my life on a continuous basis. > Each of these will have costs: Initial cost of acquisition is one (but > not the largest over time), maintenance, upgrades as required, etc. The > largest cost of all in any technology, is what I will call the "sunk > cost of intellectual investment". This is not a money cost. This cost > is the sum of all the learning and thinking you have done with respect > to a particular technology. In CNC, that is no small amount of learning > and thinking time, and once invested is mostly sunk, that is you can't > recover your investment by disposing of the goods as surplus; Your > excess thoughts aren't going to bring much on eBay. It is true that > some of the learning and thinking you will do with any particular > technological solution will port to another similar solution. For > example, a general knowledge of g-code will help you on any control > system you need to operate. > > To me, it's unwise to make any further investment of this type in a > proprietary technology. I justify this out of my previous experiences > with proprietary technologies I have used in the past from > manufacturers including Microsoft, Bridgeport, Autodesk, Symantec, et > al. What happens (and it _always_ happens at the worst possible time) > is that the manufacturer will stop supporting their product by making > repair parts unavailable, or stopping technical support, or raising the > costs of either of these to a level intended to herd you towards their > sales department. I don't mind spending the money, but I won't abide > extortion. Using their proprietary technology means that at a time most > inconvenient to you, you may have to scrap your intellectual investment > with no hope of recovery AND THEN MAKE ANOTHER intellectual investment > to get up and running with the replacement technology. > > Using free (libre) technologies in the key, critical parts of your life > will at least allow you to manage the process of technological advance > in a way that avoids crisis. Even if the free technology is an > imperfect replacement for the proprietary technology, it is cheaper to > add your own extensions to fill in the gaps, or learn to live with the > current limitations of the free technology (don't worry, mechanisms are > in place to keep free technology advancing and the deficiencies of > today will be fixed tomorrow) than to risk the loss of your mental > assets whenever it suits the schedule of the proprietary vendor. > > This is the only reason you need to use LinuxCNC. > > Thanks, > Matt > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: > > Build for Windows Store. > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: Build for Windows Store. http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
