[ct-user] WinIntel vrs Linux for CT

[Nate Bargmann]

Hi All.

I've found this an interesting thread.  First let me say that I
experimented with Linux since September 1996 on and off.  Since about
mid-January of this year I have made a point to use Linux almost
exclusively.  I reboot to Win95 on an occasional basis, although would
probably do this more often if I were still editing a club newsletter
since I have Word 6 and haven't decided to lay out the cash for
Wordperfect 7 for Linux.

I'd like to make a couple of observations about CT to Linux.  

First let me say I am only now getting my feet wet understanding the
deeper issues of how Linux works and its control of the hardware.  It is
my guess that CT, by necessity, handles the serial and parallel ports
itself (at least through the COMTSRs).  This is quite legal and even a
necessity under MS-DOS as it provides very little in terms of OS support
for these devices.  Linux, on the other hand, being a UNIX clone retains
full control of these devices and while you can write a new serial
device driver and substitute it, you still can only access the device in
question through the OS (such is my understanding).  So, I would guess a
port from MS-DOS to Linux would be very involved and time consuming, not
to mention the time it would take anyone involved in the project to
learn how to use Linux and the GNU utilities (I'm assuming no previous
experience on Linux/UNIX here).

Second, I see a bit of a culture clash here.  Traditionally, software
for DOS/Windows has been commercial (buy before you try it) or shareware
(try it before you buy it) and both are generally propriety to their
authors (no source code distribution).  In the Linux world, Free
Software is the rule of the day (free being synonomous with free speech,
not free beer, although it often meets both definitions) with most
packages distributed in source code only and compiled on your system to
match your system.  Shareware has not reached the popularity in the
Linux camp that it has in the DOS/Win world (practically non-existent)
and commercial software is typically business applications that were
probably developed and marketed for some other flavor of UNIX and then
ported to Linux.

So I come to the conclusion that CT wouldn't be cost effective in its
present form as a port to Linux.  Especially considering the time and
effort involved in the port and the prospect of low monetary returns due
to the culture that exists among the Linux community.  That is not to
say that the second half of this equation might not change dramatically
in the next few year.  I just don't see the demand justifying the effort
today.

So, what then is the solution?  Well, I wish I could report a Free
Software contest logging program is in the works on my PC.  Sadly, I
cannot.  However, that's not to say that some pieces don't already exist
that if assembled could have the makings of a very good contest logging
program.  I believe someone has worked on a rig control (TS-450?) app
for Linux and I've looked at some very basic loggers.  There is
currently a program called "pileup" that purports to be a CW contest
trainer using the soundboard (I've had the source for a while, but
haven't spent the time getting it running), so perhaps this is a means
for CW output.

I would like to see such a Free Software logging program developed (not
because I want to put Ken out of business ;-) ) so that many hams could
contribute to the project and learn and understand what is all involved
in software such as this.  There are a number of ways a project like
this could go (I'm thinking of way too many now and this post is quite
long!) and I think it is an intriguing idea.  Perhaps someone already
has a project similar to this underway.

As I see it, Ken has CT going in the right direction.  Perhaps one of
these days I'll finally have to upgrade from my old version 8.53.

73, de Nate >>

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