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Thread: Why Linux?

  1. #81
    Junior Member MaxPF's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GMPX View Post
    Nothing hacked from a PC, it's just a custom written embedded OS by GM/Delphi.
    My guess is that it is a RTOS of some kind. There are numerous commercial RTOS's out there that run on embedded microcontrollers - no sense reinventing the wheel. I have used a few RTOS's in microcontroller apps and it makes writing your firmware darn near as simple as writing a threaded app for a regular OS. It's amazing how little memory some of these RTOS's take when your used to a regular OS. There are several that are less than 10kb in size

  2. #82
    Junior Member MaxPF's Avatar
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    I have been both a Solaris and a Linux systems admin. I used to use Linux exclusively on my own PC, but now I run OpenSolaris exclusively.

    Linux has been good for the computer industry without a doubt, but to this day administering a large number of Linux boxes is a PITA. Linux is a moving target, and while userland apps are fairly stable, anything kernel side tends to get broken every time a new release comes out. Even Windows isn't nearly that bad. This sucks for 3rd party drivers - anytime there is a kernel change a driver recompile is almost always required. Solaris has a stable driver interface, so any changes to the underlying kernel doesn't affect the drivers plugged into it. Even Windows follows a scheme similar to this. It's logical, and I fail to understand why it has never been implemented in Linux (actually, I know why - Linus thinks it is too much overhead in the kernel and would slow things down - his opinion, not fact).

    It gets worse when a new distro release decides to break userland apps. Upgrades and patches on Linux systems have to be approached with much more care in a commercial environment. By comparison, I have found Solaris and OS to be far more stable and MUCH less work to maintain vs. a Linux shop. These days, with the exception of HW driver support (which Linux has much more of than about anything out there), OpenSolaris will do anything Linux will do, and be more stable to boot. Major HW is supported under OS, but it would be nice to be able to port all the Linux drivers. Not gonna happen due to incompatible licensing though Don't get me wrong though - I still like Linux! And the BSD's, and OSX too

    Anyway, that diatribe leads me to this one: IF you ever do a *nix port, PLEASE DON'T MAKE IT LINUX-CENTRIC!!!!!!!!! There are many, MANY, apps out there that are written on Linux systems with no regard to portability, and getting them to compile on other *nix OS's is often a massive PITA. The bad part is, there is no excuse for this. Pretty much every *nix flavor out there is POSIX compliant, or near enough. Using cross-platform API kits like wxWidgets there is no excuse for this. i have written apps that compiled on Windows, Linux, and OSX with the same code. Even in the *nix world, with the exception of OSX pretty much everyone runs Gnome or KDE, so it's not like making a portable piece of software is a major hurdle. It's perfectly doable, it just needs to be done from the start.

    So, I'm begging - pretty please - make any port truly portable

    I suppose I should rant about Apple not extending Carbon to the 64 bit realm, effectively making it obsolete and forcing folks to port their apps to the ObjC based Cocoa, but I will let it slide for now

  3. #83
    Junior Member MaxPF's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ryans1000 View Post
    I think Linux would be a huge waste of the developers time from a business stand point
    I agree, unless it is done as a pet project.

    Also, it seems like there are a lot of enthusiasts out there that could lend a hand. Im sure EFILive is like most pieces of software, in which there are mundane portions such as the GUI's that take a lot of coding due to nonexistent protability and aren't particularly sensitive from an IP point of view, and other modules of highly proprietary code that EFILive wouldn't want anyone to have access to. The EFILive folks could ask if there are some volunteers to start a community porting project to "port" or recreate the EFILive GUI modules. All they would need to do is tell the volunteering team to recreate the Windows GUI (or outline a new one from scratch if they wish) and specify the hooks to tie in to the rest of the code.

    This way, they could get free programming help without having to divulge any of the proprietary portions of their code. Also, even though there is nothing really sensitive in the GUI coding, they could still require any volunteers to sign an NDA, just as extra insurance...

  4. #84
    Lifetime Member Chevy366's Avatar
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    MaxPF , glad to see a Unix user , OpenSolaris is pretty nice used it for a test once , not a lot different than Linux , it still used KDE and I think at one time Solaris for OpenSolaris was actually was going to use SuSE as a base (backed out and used Unix) .
    I can see the demise of Windows coming soon , Google's Chrome Android OS will . once released , start to chip away at Micro$oft a lighting speeds .
    Once someone gets past the Free part , yes Free Software can be just as good as the Paid For , Google Chrome will spread .
    Maybe with V8 we can get a Linux version .
    2005 1500 HD , Custom OS3 SD tune .
    2006 Trailblazer
    Dinosaurs and Plants gave their lives so that we may drive , long live fossil fuel .

  5. #85
    Lifetime Member Chevy366's Avatar
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    Default Oops

    Not to bash to much , but : http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...ut-exploit-fix , http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...-security-flaw
    Seems Micro$oft has a bug it can't fix and it allows access to the OS , and is in all Windows Kernels , so Win7 is not safe either , OH MY !
    Recommendations are to install Linux as a workaround !
    Last edited by Chevy366; July 27th, 2010 at 04:25 AM.
    2005 1500 HD , Custom OS3 SD tune .
    2006 Trailblazer
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  6. #86
    Lifetime Member N0DIH's Avatar
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    I am looking forward to the Chrome OS coming! Been waiting for a few years now....

    Quote Originally Posted by Chevy366 View Post
    MaxPF , glad to see a Unix user , OpenSolaris is pretty nice used it for a test once , not a lot different than Linux , it still used KDE and I think at one time Solaris for OpenSolaris was actually was going to use SuSE as a base (backed out and used Unix) .
    I can see the demise of Windows coming soon , Google's Chrome Android OS will . once released , start to chip away at Micro$oft a lighting speeds .
    Once someone gets past the Free part , yes Free Software can be just as good as the Paid For , Google Chrome will spread .
    Maybe with V8 we can get a Linux version .
    I owned a Ford once, ONCE.......

  7. #87
    Junior Member MaxPF's Avatar
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    Umm, chromium OS is really nothing but a stripped down, canned Linux for dummies. I don't see it bringing anything to the table over a regular Linux distro, and in fact I think it takes an otherwise good OS and makes it too limiting. I see computer novices outgrowing it VERY quickly, while regular users and power users will never touch it...

  8. #88
    EFILive Developer Site Admin Blacky's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MaxPF View Post
    So, I'm begging - pretty please - make any port truly portable
    Agreed! I spent 10-15 years in the *nix world developing and porting a compiler/virtual machine (similar to the Java concept) that allowed proprietary code to be compiled once and run on multiple flavors of unix. Back then (the 80's) there was a lot more incompatabilities between *nix platforms. Pretty much my entire job was to port the virtual machine (written in C) software to all those *nix platforms. HPUX, OSF, AIX, DGUX, Xenix, SCO, Unisys, Solaris and some other obscure versions. So I know a thing or two about writing portable code. However, I have never had to deal with a GUI on *nix, it was all tty based.

    The version 8 redesign places all the sensitive/proprietary stuff into the FlashScan firmware and the firmware exposes a stable API (documentation coming) that can be accessed by any client platform, Windows, *nix, OSX or embedded systems so long as they can connect via the USB interface. We encourage developers to write their own front ends on their platform of choice to interface with FlashScan.

    Regards
    Paul
    Before asking for help, please read this.

  9. #89
    EFILive Developer Site Admin Blacky's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MaxPF View Post
    I agree, unless it is done as a pet project.

    Also, it seems like there are a lot of enthusiasts out there that could lend a hand. Im sure EFILive is like most pieces of software, in which there are mundane portions such as the GUI's that take a lot of coding due to nonexistent protability and aren't particularly sensitive from an IP point of view, and other modules of highly proprietary code that EFILive wouldn't want anyone to have access to. The EFILive folks could ask if there are some volunteers to start a community porting project to "port" or recreate the EFILive GUI modules. All they would need to do is tell the volunteering team to recreate the Windows GUI (or outline a new one from scratch if they wish) and specify the hooks to tie in to the rest of the code.

    This way, they could get free programming help without having to divulge any of the proprietary portions of their code. Also, even though there is nothing really sensitive in the GUI coding, they could still require any volunteers to sign an NDA, just as extra insurance...
    That's pretty much the plan.
    Regards
    Paul
    Before asking for help, please read this.

  10. #90
    Lifetime Member Chevy366's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MaxPF View Post
    Umm, chromium OS is really nothing but a stripped down, canned Linux for dummies. I don't see it bringing anything to the table over a regular Linux distro, and in fact I think it takes an otherwise good OS and makes it too limiting. I see computer novices outgrowing it VERY quickly, while regular users and power users will never touch it...
    Exactly , you have to have a version as you describe to lure Window users out . Isn't that what Ubuntu is , dumb down version of Linux , and thousands like it !
    Hmmmm , novice outgrowing it quickly , how many millions still use Windows ?
    I have a ported version of Chrome (Android) , test version that would boot on a regular com .
    Solaris is okay , I still get e-mails from Sun wanting to know if I still am or want to use Solaris , like I said Solaris was to much like Linux to move away from Linux to it , BSD the same , slightly different , but basic the same .
    Perhaps if to many Windows users taint the Linux world I will move to the Sunny side (pun) , or BSD (Berkeley OS) .
    Last edited by Chevy366; July 28th, 2010 at 05:57 AM.
    2005 1500 HD , Custom OS3 SD tune .
    2006 Trailblazer
    Dinosaurs and Plants gave their lives so that we may drive , long live fossil fuel .

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