Re: New forum topic - Open Control
Feb 11, 2002 3:04 pm, by Jiri Baum
Text :
Bob Pawley:
> It would seem there is a bipolar reality in the control world these days.

> At the south pole are numerous control software packages. Systems that do
> the job, but are so rigid in application that everyone finds some fault.

> At the north pole is Linux, the ultimate open source software, but
> without the structure and organization to instil the confidence and
> acceptance required for mass appeal.

That's where distributions come in - they're the sales departments of the Linux world, and that's where you go when you want a structured, organized
package.

One can modify anything in Linux, but one rarely does. Indeed, I would expect that a plant would standardize on a particular combination of
packages from a particular distribution, perhaps customized, and then refuse to change a thing for years (without good reason). Only the actual
control logic would change.

Obviously, if two such companies merge, there will be two different versions, but it'll be easy for them to interoperate, or the opportunity
can be taken to upgrade both to a common new version of the company-wide standard.

Jiri
--
Jiri Baum <jiri@baum.com.au> http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jirib
MAT LinuxPLC project --- http://mat.sf.net --- Machine Automation Tools
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