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Re: How do you like eCos
- To: Robin Farine <advanc at dial dot eunet dot ch>
- Subject: Re: [ECOS] How do you like eCos
- From: "Lewin A.R.W. Edwards" <larwe at larwe dot com>
- Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 08:47:42 -0500
- Cc: "Ecos-List (E-mail)" <ecos-discuss at sourceware dot cygnus dot com>
- References: <4.3.2.7.2.20001129151425.00ac1b50@larwe.com>
Hello Robin,
>really want to use free tools and OSes, first try to think positive, and
>then accept to have to read source code, to understand how the damned
>things work (or, more often, why they don't), and even to fix bugs!
What you are saying here boils down to "it is free, therefore you must
expect the quality to be below par", and I do not accept this. And really
the only change I am proposing is very sensible: Whoever maintains a set of
instructions for installing a set of tools should keep available for
download a snapshot of the exact versions that the instructions reference.
Yes, they will be out of date at the end of the week. But at least a person
can get started. You can't learn how the tools work if you can't build them.
I was thinking very positive at the start, but in the face of zero results
it is difficult to retain this state of mind.
The version of gcc and libc I'm using in our current product was compiled
in 1996. It is ancient, but I see no need for upgrades. Iff (not a typo) we
were having some problem attributable to compiler age then I would consider
battling the make process to try to get an update built. With the current
system, I don't get a choice.
>I know, Window$ users are not trained in understanding (because they do
That is an unfair comment. Just because I have written for Windows does not
mean I am a new user unwrapping his first PC and installing AOL. Actually I
got into Windows quite late, and I haven't written a line of code for the
OS in more than a year and a half (and I don't miss it...) In fact it is
refreshing not to be a slave to Microsoft and undocumented APIs and
concealed OS bugs. We are currently getting into Universal Plug'n'Pray and
I am having feelings of deja vu, seeing the way MS is trying to leverage
all its proprietary technologies into our project. It will be a cold day in
hell before we put WinCE into our devices, though.
As for wanting to run devtools inside Windows, the simple fact is that most
commercial apps are for Windows. So it is a significant disruption to my
life to have to run two OSs on two PCs. Running Linux I can't just switch
over to the circuit diagram or our intra-office email system or MS-Word to
update a spec document. It is an appreciable drain on productivity.
I want to boot my board and debug my own code, not someone else's. I don't
have the ability to tell five junior programmers "Go work out how to build
the tools, you've got a month to do so".
I can't believe that my viewpoint is unique.
Lewin A.R.W. Edwards (Embedded Engineer)
Got any Commodore 16 or VIC-20 hardware, cartridges, tapes?
Visit http://www.larwe.com/vintage/
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