Lpc2000

Dan Beadle wrote:

>I am with you about GNU.  Cheap, but my time is worth a lot.  IAR and
>Keil are Chevy vs Ford.  
>
>  
>
I don't wish to start a war on this topic, everybody has thier own 
favorite ways of working.  Myself, I became intrigued with Linux back in 
late 1996 when I discovered that they gave me the source code to 
everything in the system.  I just was looking to build a webserver and 
then I started thinking about how to "embed this thing!".

Well, in 1998, I decided to make a concerted effort to "master Linux".  
It was growing to take over many of the jobs I had for computers to do.  
It took me two years of intense effort: bash scripting, perl scripting, 
regular expressions, run-levels, building the kernel, learning gcc + 
binutils, etc..

I run a DOS based cross compiler for 8051, eventually it was running on 
Windows 98 in a VMware virtual machine.  I have no choice as to the 
compiler as there is a lot of legacy code written on it.  I ran the 
VMware for several years.  Finally, in 2003 I began migrating this 
development over onto the Linux platform.

First to move was the file editing, got a nice increase in productivity 
as I could now use perl to process source files and data files.  As I 
learned the vi editor (I am a touch typist), I found that I liked it.  I 
could edit files without having to reach for the mouse or grope for the 
cursor keys.  I can keep my hands on the home keys of the keyboard and: 
navigate, edit and issue commands (such as search and replace), all 
without touching the cursors or mouse.

Next to go was to take the makefile system, which was running 
Microsoft's nmake, and use dosemu + the Linux make.  The GNU make would 
run a copy operation to replace the autoexec.bat of the the dosemu, 
launch the dosemu to run the compiler / assembler / linker under DOS and 
exit.  Another nice increase in productivity as I now could stay on the 
command line to launch vi to edit files, and then type 'make' when I exited.

Finally, I implemented cvs code versioning.   This was another large 
increase in productivity as I could make massive changes to my source to 
try out new ideas, and, if it didn't work out, I could rewind the source 
back to a particular date & time.

What most people forget is that there was a learning curve to MSDOS, 
Win3.x, WinNT 4, and so on.  Each time we had a new version of Microsoft 
come out we had to relearn some things while we found other things were 
broken.  What I have discovered in my 8 years of running Linux is that 
things seldom break.  I don't have the horrific crashes that I used to 
have with the "other" O/S.  When I upgrade, software still works, I 
don't have to get a new cross-compiler version, another copy of VMware, 
EagleCAD still runs.

What I have also learned is that the effort I spent on learning / 
mastering this new thing called Linux has paid off in increased 
productivity and stability.  I would encourage other Embedded Systems 
people to take a closer look at the system.

I still run Windows 98 / NT for the occasional CPLD compiler, or to run 
QuickBooks.   Windows runs about an hour or two a week, all the rest of 
the time I'm running Linux.


Regards,

TomW

>>For a professional developer which would be the compiler of choice:
>>
>>IAR
>>Keil
>>Or another?
>>    
>>
>
>I use Keil and like it a lot.  What few problems with the compiler I've
>found had been fixed with in several days.  The support is great.
>
>There are going to be a lot of people suggesting GNU and while I sure it
>a
>powerful development tool I can't stand to use it.  I'm a hardware
>engineer
>that programs and I don't want to have to be a frigg'n GNU expert just
>to
>use a compiler.  I compare buying a compiler to buying a car;  buy
>Keil/Iar/... and you get a fully assembled car, use GNU and you get a
>box
>full of unlabeled parts, crappy documentation, no support, and you put
>your
>own car together out of these parts...
>
>If you want a great tool that is well supported grab Keil or one of the
>other commercial compiler packages.
>
>Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
>Electronic Systems Engineering Group
>Greg Deuerling
>  
>


-- 
Tom Walsh - WN3L - Embedded Systems Consultant
http://openhardware.net, http://cyberiansoftware.com
"Windows? No thanks, I have work to do..."
----------------------------------------------------




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]