[arm-allstar] Where's Waldo?

[K1RA - Andy Z]

This note dovetails off my original Nano Interface thread which you can
revisit, but as it touches on more than that I chose to re-title. I've been
following Allstar ARM group over the past several years and read the
strides as well as trials and tribulations of bring the new system
together.  Much has been accomplished by a very few individuals and they
are to be commended.  And although I fully appreciate the efforts put into
FOB conversion by the community, I think those who continue to jump on the
soapbox and say "they are only $3, just buy a bunch and hack away at it"
are totally missing the point.  I've gone through several of the mod-FOB
processes successfully, but still despise it.  Sure I could buy converted
ones, but FOBs have no processing power or A/D like a Nano, which I
desire.  Others have their own reasons for wishing for something better or
shying away from the mod-FOB status quo. I've seen enough to know that
there is always another way regardless of the opinions or projections of
others.  Besides that, none of us should have to justify why we wish to use
any particular hardware or software.  If we have the wherewithal to build
and integrate it into a system, why shouldn't we?

Let me try to put the issue into perspective with this purely fictional
story.  There was once this group of individuals who saw greatness in a
certain open, software project, but wanted to migrate away from the Entel
PC desktop platform on which it was built.  They wished to leverage LEG
processors to accomplish running a certain software application.  The
(giants) Entel folks did what they knew best and preached all the benefits
of their system configuration.  They said you can't have it any other way,
its not easy or costs too much to do it any other way.  The LEG folks had
their reasons for migrating, be it smaller foot print, less power
consumption, or less expensive equipment costs.  But initially, rather than
helping the LEG team get their idea off the ground, the Entel folks said,
just go buy a cheaper ATOM processor based motherboard.  Those take less
power than a desktop PC.  Also, there are smaller form factor mini-ATX
boxes and everything is integrated, sound, P.S. network, etc.  There is no
need to build/solder anything its all plug & play.  Why not just suck it up
and do it our way?  Now the LEG guys were determined and pushed onward with
their implementation.  LEG continued to press Entel regarding their
implementation to better help them understand the inner working of the
Entel project, but those requests seemed only to be answered with more
questions and status-quo responses.  Maybe Entel finally saw the light and
helped LEG make greater strides and then again, maybe they didn't. Who
would you more relate to, the Entel group or the LEG group?

As some may be able to relate, as a ham, an engineer and all around tinker
I have my own ideas on what I'd like to accomplish and how.  I've
identified hardware I wish to leverage and incorporate in certain tasks.
There is software I'd like to bring to fruition to solve certain problems.
I see open source projects ripe for the tweaking to meet my needs.  When
some one or group keeps touting this is the only way to do it, or shows a
lack of appreciation for helping to expand the knowledge or art of others,
that is irksome. I understand no one is under any obligation to help anyone
these days, but I gravitated towards ham radio at a very young age because
of the openness and sharing I found among the community when it came to
helping newcomers advance their knowledge and skills.  The open source
hardware and software, maker and DIY groups today follow that same line of
thought, which I fully embrace both in my work and hobby communities.  In
our ham community I would hope others would be willing to share the
knowledge they have, to push the envelope forward and encourage and assist
newcomers to get more involved.  Put egos and embarrassment aside and help
them to build off the backs of giants.

Now a direct request to the developers of Allstar ARM. Where's Waldo? Can
you please post the source code for this Allstar ARM project? Good or bad,
clean or dirty, baked or half-baked, in use or not yet in use.  Are you in
need of assistance doing this? i.e. setting up a Sourceforge or GitHub
repository? I would be glad to assist.  I use other ham projects (SvxLink,
GNURadio, KiwiSDR, WSJT, HAMShield, fldigi) and see numerous others
published through those repositories and I've yet to understand the
reluctance regarding not posting a project of this magnitude.  Isn't your
system built on Copyleft software?

https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html

I've read Allstar ARM software is only alpha, or beta or a release
candidate and not ready for prime-time, but I don't recall seeing anything
in copyleft that relieves anyone of the obligation and responsibility of
providing source of derivative works given a certain state of one's
development cycle.  Then again, maybe ARM is all proprietary and commercial
software and I'm totally off base and therefore sorry I asked.

I understand we all have other obligations, family matters, personal. work,
etc. but it would seem that posting the source should be a #1 priority, if
not from day one.  This would ensure the project doesn't suffer death due
to the sole one or two developers having to bow out of development for
whatever reasons.  It would surely allow other interested individuals to
begin to spin up and potentially contribute and continue the life of this
project, if not also provide for other opportunities.

73

andyz - K1RA
http://k1ra.us/

p.s. - I would have rather spent my time looking at and writing source code
than this email