Honestly, converting a PC to a controller for $159 just isnt true. WIndows costs a minumum of $100.

A PC being a Personal Computer can run any OS, it doesnt inply that it is a Windows system.

CAD/CAM is a techy thing. I am sure theres plenty of ppl out there who wish MACH ran under linux. IM no Linux guru so i can't do it myself, all i can do is beg and plead that someone help make this software run under a sane and free OS, which windows is not 

The dawn of Vista is upon us, and im scared. The headache being created by MIcrosoft for developers looms upon you! BE AFRAID!

LOL, ok seriously. A machine controller should be able to run on a system like linux/unix. WINDOWS is CLUNKY! not designed for direct control of peripherals. I would bet half of all your coding problems deal with tricking windows out of doing what it wants to.

PLZ PLZ PLZ WE NEED A LINUX PORT!!!

Thank You

P.S. I have been using Mach softawre for 3 years now and love it.

/rant off

A clean and well configured XP machine Is rock solid .
Assuming you use quality parts. 

Sure Linux can be had free ,, but wait !!!  you have to pay for the PC to load it on !!!

hehe 
Its all relative me thinx.

Porting Mach to Linux is never gonna happen. I like Linux too but Sometimes i just want things to work and while windows assuredly has it's problems for the most part things work. I spent  weeks trying to get mythtv running on one of my boxen and could never get it working correctly. I have up and installed a free windows version and it has been rock solid. If and when Linux gets to the point that i don't have to mess with kernel stuff to get things to work i will be a happy camper, but for now it isn't there yet.

And btw there is a very good free cnc controller for Linux

http://www.linuxcnc.org/

But again you have to mess with the system to get things working.

Chad

Honestly, converting a PC to a controller for $159 just isnt true. WIndows costs a minumum of $100.

I came up with the slogan, to attract users to click the link when they see it in Google.
It is not meant to be deceptive in anyway, and assumes if you have a PC it is already loaded with XP.

Sorry if you dont like this term.

I agree, a Linux version would be good too.

Simple choice.
You can have Mach3 with all it's attendant support and bug fixes that runs on a system many understand and use the CNC machine as it was intended.

Or:-

You can move to Linux and EMC and put up with no bugs being fixed, no one responsible for the project and using a system that only a few techy geeks can understand and spend all your time getting the computer / EMC running and forget using the machine.

Linux user started off with one version out of 10 with a program called Red Hat, possibly named after the rabbit that was pulled out of it.
Now I see we are being touted to use a program called Unbunto which according to Google is a village in west Africa.

John S.

HAHA! plz nobody misunderstand my intentions here, im not bashing anyone for choice of slogan wording or bashing winders per-se....well i did bash windows some

I certainly would not like this thread to devolve into some re-hash of the old and tired "windows vs linux" drivel. ON that note i will add that linux is very stable and Ubuntu works great, its when you try and run non-native software designed for windows that the trouble starts.

I have checked out http://www.linuxcnc.org/   I DO think that what they are doing is much needed, however at this point it does not have the level of polish, and wonderful, supporting community that MACH does (i.e you all)   

Linux is getting bigger and better all the time, and i would just like to bring it to the table. There will be a point when linux is just as easy as windows (as if windows was easy) and Ubuntu is getting close. As long as we have the dialog out there, perhaps Art and his team can keep this in mind for the future. It might not even be as hard as we think. Who knows, we all might learn something.

At the very least, it would be nice to figure out a way for Wine to run Mach for starters. And of particular interest is LazyCAM.

So, to sum up:
 I am a veteran windows user, been on it since 3.2
Im also a fan of linux.
NO BASHING OF EITHER ALLOWED! 
I now prefer linux, for personal reasons.
I have been using Mach for nearly 3 years

open minds and willing fingers may bring this about, if anyone is willing to work on this, lets talk

O boy that can NEVER happen! mach3 IS a windows program and that will never change THere is just no way to move all the messages that mach3 needs over to linux.


Sorry I think that Linux is best left to the EMC Guys and 259.00 is still about as cheap as you are ever going to get for a CNC machine! I run toos that are 500.00 on control that cost me 159.00
(Sorry I didn't pay for it  )

open minds and willing fingers may bring this about, if anyone is willing to work on this, lets talk

No because trying to port Mach3 onto Linux will only get you EMC which already exists and for what purpose ?
To save $100 for windows and $160 for a Mach 3 license ?
But who pays to port Mach3 over to save the $160 ?
If Art does this what does he get out of it ?

I'm sorry but this is one subject that revs me up.
If you go out and buy a commercial control like a Fanuc it will set you back 10K. For that you will get a dedicated controller and limited support.
It won't allow you do do CAD/CAM, check your email play solitaire whilst machining a part and it will have what they supply NOT what you fancy being added.

Instead you have paid your $159 and got close to what you spent 10K on and in some options better than that.

Where do you want it to end? A free computer, steppers and drivers and as much precision ball screw and linear rail as you can carry ?

No sorry even if it is a hobby it has a cost, it you can't afford it don't whinge, just put it back in the box and don't play with it.

I'd like to take up photography, anyone got a digital 35mm Cannon for about $25.00 ? as it's all I want to pay?

Wow, well I guess enough time has passed for the heat to cool off.  As a user, I also would like to see a port to linux also, not because I want Mach 3 and all its features and support for free but because I don't like being tied to the windows operating system. 

If you want a Linux Controller, then use EMC. Works well to.
Lemo