Hi,
But I also dislike windows greatly.
Running Mach4 does not really involve Windows, or rather you can quietly ignore that it is a Windows machine. The only time you really encounter any Windows
features is if you back out of Mach4 to do some file keeping or other maintenance. Does that matter?
Frankly I'd love a version of Mach4 that runs under linux realtime. And yes I know there was a version at one time a long long time ago that natively ran under linux.
Windows is not a realtime computing system, thus the output of Machs trajectory planner must needs be buffered by the motion controller. If you were to run
Mach on a realtime computing system, of which Linux with RTE is a very close facsimile, then the trajectory planner always receives timely CPU service and therefore
the motion controller would not NEED to buffer motion commands. Really Mach does not care or change if its realtime OR buffered, however it makes a huge difference
to the motion controller.
One area that Mach4 is weak is that because its never had a realtime environment in which to run it has never had any feedback handling code or APIs.
Its a bit like saying that Mach will never run in Germany and so Mach has no German instructions.
smurph had indicated that Mach has run on Linux and that there was interest in releasing a Linux version. He did warn however that any move in that direction
would be for OEM manufacturers only, ie there would be no support should a hobbyist decide to use it. That was a year or so ago.....what the status is now I have
no idea.
Craig