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Comment: Dell has supported Linux for over a Decade (Score 1) 399

by Matt_Bennett (#39942025) Attached to: Dell Designing Developer Oriented Laptop

Dell has been supporting Linux on servers for well over 10 years. You've always been free to install Linux on your laptop- just don't expect to get (consumer level/any) support.

The hardware cost is just a fraction of what you pay. In a previous life, when I worked at a little company in Round Rock, TX that rhymes with hell, testing took up the vast majority of development effort, and every additional OS added to that test effort/cost. If/when the analysis says it can make a profit that is similar to the other lines of business, that path is taken.

Comment: Re:I2C (Score 1) 42

by Matt_Bennett (#39875213) Attached to: Sigrok: An Open Source Logic Analyzer

What really makes the Beagle useful is the software- allowing to collect data, filter on certain packets, statistics, and timing. Just looking at high/low traces is useful, but, particularly when dealing with serial protocols, can get old, really quickly.

What I would really like would be some way to use the Wireshark interface with these tools looking for these protocols. Maybe there is a way, but I haven't figured out the proper hardware/software combination.

Comment: I2C (Score 1) 42

by Matt_Bennett (#39870581) Attached to: Sigrok: An Open Source Logic Analyzer

Until I2C is 100% released, this is not complete- that's my minimum benchmark. I've got a Saleae 8 channel and it looks like it supports it- but the last thing you want to be doing when you're working on a project like this is debugging your test hardware.

I like the portability and flexibility of the Saleae device, but if I'm getting deep into the protocol... the Beagle from Total Phase works much better. Total phase also has a decently affordable USB analyzer. What I've found is that a simple analyzer works fine for basic debugging, but once you start getting into complex debugging or real-time, the software layer that resides on the PC is what really differentiates what is a "real tool."

Collecting data is one thing, but sorting through it is where the skill is involved, and decent software becomes vital.

Comment: Liability can-o-worms (Score 1) 178

by Matt_Bennett (#39733277) Attached to: Open Source Electric Cars — Good Idea Or Not?
Most open source makes it clear "no guarantee" "you are responsible" etc. When you're fiddling around with your computer, not a problem, you are pretty limited in the scope what you can really mess up (and your ISP has a pretty easy switch to cut you off). But, when we start looking at cars- most places have liability insurance requirements, because when things go bad, they can really go bad- far faster than most people have cash reserves to cover (in the case of someone else's injuries). How do we extend this to cars? It must be in place to some extent, since people have been modifying cars since there were cars.

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