I just read this thread and I must say I'm certainly confused in a lot of ways. During the days of Mach 3, we compiled a list of things that people were asking for that Mach 3 simply could never do. That list became Mach 4. So Mach 4 was the direct result of us listening to what our users wanted! But now they don't want it? Thus my confused state of mind.
Ii used to be, or I used to think, that hobbyist had simple machines to do simple things. 3 axis mill without a tool changer, for example. But no. Just take a look at the feature request thread!!!! 90% of that thread is people wanting Mach 4 to do something special. But also, 90% of that can be accomplished with using the tools that are already provided with Mach 4!
So there is a strange dichotomy going on here. People want shrink wrapped software simplicity but also want it to do something very special that THEY want it to do. So I don't buy the "Mach 4 won't work without a lot of programming" complaint. Mach 4 will run my Matsuura MC500 "out of the box" with absolutely no LUA programming! Just by mapping signals to I/O and setting up the motors. All of this is done in the Mach configuration dialog. The only thing that requires LUA is the tool changer. It required VB in Mach 3. And since no two tool changers are the same (assuming some are built, some are converted, etc..), this becomes one of the "special things". But I could run that machine with manual tool changes with Mach 4 "out of the box" all day long. In fact, I don't use the tool changer all that often with the things I do.
"But I have brand 'X' joystick that I want to use..." Guess what? You are wanting something special.
"But I want to touch off a tool at a certain location on my custom built machine, set the height, and restart with one button. And I might have to learn LUA?" The answer is yes!!! The good news is that you can make that work. The bad news is that we will never be able to provide that "out of the box".
I could go on and on, but I digress.
As to the hobbyist definition... If you end up buying a Centroid controller, are you still a hobbyist? A point to debate. I'm a ham radio guy. That is another one of my "hobbies". But you know what? Now I find myself collecting expensive test gear like signal generators and spectrum analyzers. I like fixing radios. I no longer consider it a hobby and I now consider it as a semi-profession venture. I make money fixing radios. It is no longer something I do just for myself. The tools I use are something far greater than what a normal ham radio hobbyist uses. BTW, I wish ANY ONE PIECE of that test gear was as affordable as Mach 4. So ask yourself the question "Am I truly still a hobbyist?", and be honest.
Also, I have a 3 axis X2 machine running Mach 4 and ESS. It runs Mach 4 out of the box without any LUA code at all. Now THAT is THE quintessential hobby machine. So yeah, I think Mach 4 is hobby material. But isn't it nice that Mach 4 will also run my Matsuura production type machine? Make no mistake, I have no illusions about the differences between those two machines. One is a hobby machine and the other could be put to work in any professional machine shop. One didn't required a bit of LUA and the other did.
Steve