Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: EMC and Taig w/ MicroProto

John Stevenson wrote:

> [snip]
>
>Lester,
>Would Art have supplied a fix back to EMC as he's not involved in that?
>
>

Well, if he was able to get the source code in the first place, then he
probably had enough contact with the developers to provide patches.
However, the original release of EMC was done as public domain, since
taxpayer money funded the work at NIST. (I'm not sure if that applies
to Canadians though - maybe Art needs to pay Uncle Sam something ;) )
Technically, Art (or anyone else) isn't required to provide any fixes or
improvements back to the project, IF they based their work on the
original release. Later changes to emc, including all of EMC2 and the
version on the BDI disc, are GPL, and anyone who bases work on those is
required to provide source code to their customers (though they aren't
required to send fixes back to the project).

>It's also OK talking about fixing a problem like this if you know how
>it should work.
>4th axis is a can of worms, there is no industry standard.
>If you are at 300 degrees and command a move to 0 does it go back or
>run on another 60 degrees. How is rotation controlled?
>Are moves greater than 360 allowed for helical cutting ?
>
>Art asked his customers what was required as he's not a machinist.
>How do you ask a customer that at the moment doesn't exist ?
>
>

This brings up an important point for both commercial and open source
software. If you try a piece of software, and it doesn't do what you
think it should do, then you really need to contact the developers and
tell them. We don't all live in a vacuum (most of the EMC2 developers
have significant experience running milling machines and/or lathes), but
we certainly don't want to decide what everyone needs either. Expert
advice on what features to add, and how they should work (and of course
what features don't currently work, and how they should :) ) is needed
for improvements to be made.

>It may bee a moot point though as EMC has been runiing far longer then
>Mach3 and has far more developers working on it, it should have been
>fixed.
>
>

Again, bugs can only be fixed if they're known, and user reports are the
best way to know about problems like that (unfortunately).

>John S.
>
>

Thanks
- Steve