[TenTec] Open Source for TT firmware

[Gary Smith]

Well said.

As IBM just announced they are sending Linux development (open 
source) to asia, count that as work that will 'forevermore' be lost in the 
states. Were it radios & their software the result would be the same.

> As a 32-year veteran of the software industry, I have mixed feelings
> about the open-source movement. On the one hand, it makes life easier.
> On the other hand, I don't see how software designers and engineers
> will be able to make a living in an open-source world. Without that
> incentive, there won't be anyone around to write the stuff! Kinda
> reminds me of free music downloads. Really neat for the downloaders,
> but if the artists can't make money for the creativity and effort,
> they won't do it anymore, or will restrict their activities to live
> performances.

Gary 
ka1j

> Sorry for the OT comment. Back to net...
> 
> 73, Dick WC1M
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Martin Ewing [mailto:martin at aa6e.net]
> > Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 11:06 AM
> > To: tentec at contesting.com
> > Subject: [TenTec] Open Source for TT firmware
> > 
> > 
> > (In another thread) Mark Erbaugh wrote:
> >  >
> >  > I'm not faulting TenTec in this decision. You can't really
> > expect them to  > continuually pour engineering resources 
> > into a project without a  > corresponding revenue stream. Now 
> > that TT has ceased support for the  > Pegasus, I hope that 
> > they will release the firmware source code to the  > general 
> > ham public. I'm sure folks like Carl could add new features.
> > 
> > I would definitely approve of open sourcing the firmware for
> > all TT radios, but 
> > especially for EOL models.  I hope TT seriously looks at this 
> > proposal.  Of 
> > course, it's not a simple decision, but I see lots of good results.
> > 
> > -Much faster debugging if code is scanned by more expert
> > eyes. -Possible user support for firmware (taking some load 
> > off TT?) -User experimentation with new features that could 
> > make their way back to the 
> > official code if found worthy.
> > -Very good PR with the community, strengthening the 
> > user/vendor relationship 
> > that is already a key feature of TT products.
> > 
> > Against it, though
> > -Loss of proprietary content (if any?), which might extend to
> > TT's commercial 
> > product line.
> > -Exposing TT's "spaghetti code" to the world (!)
> > -Someone (TT?) having to play Linus Torvalds and decide what 
> > gets into the 
> > kernel (we do have a kernel don't we? ;-) and what doesn't. 
> > -Requiring a specialized code development environment that 
> > most people don't 
> > have - possibly a whole breadboard radio, logic analyzers, 
> > etc. -Need good documentation of firmware.  (not cheap) 
> > -Firmware "forks" could confuse the marketplace. -Firmware 
> > mods for general use have to be carefully tested against all 
> > operating 
> > modes - pretty intense stuff.
> > 
> > If we could pull it off, it would be a wonderful thing, but
> > I'm not holding my 
> > breath.
> > 
> > 73- Martin
> > 
> > p.s.  I'd like to see a radio with an inbuilt Linux OS
> > environment - more 
> > standardized and accessible for experimentation.
> > 
> > 
> 
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