Re: Must Have apps for the next BDI

["David A. Frantz" <wizard-at-eznet.net>]

Hi Paul

Robin makes some very good suggestions here.   But I did want to point 
out that one of the reasons that I wanted to see mozilla, a PDF reader 
and/or a spreadsheet application was that these provide ways to present 
information to the user.    What I eventually imagined seeing is a whole 
collection of available information related to the machining craft on 
line.     Everything from material properties data to size charts for 
twist drills.

Now it could be argued that this sort of information may not need to go 
directly into the BDI along with EMC, but I can argue that it would be 
much more usefull than games or the latest version of gimp.    What we 
are talking about is sort of like a gpl'ed machinest handbook, a place 
to collect common knowledge related to the craft that nobody completely 
remembers.   Obviously this info does not exist yet so I geuss that 
maybe we are jumping the gun a bit.   Finally room for EMC tutorials and 
documentation is paramount.

Also please retain a mail system of some sort.   I believe that it is 
useful for any system.    In the future it would be nice if EMC was 
capable of being configured to E-Mail specific individuals when ever a 
fault is detected.

Just a few ideas or perspectvies I thought might be worth mentioning.   
  Eventually I would love to see a BDI disk that gives one a complete 
development station for metal working.   I realize that there is not 
enough gpl'ed material yet to do that so obviously the BDI disk is going 
to be filled with material that may not be directly related to CNC control.

Thanks
Dave


Robin Szemeti wrote:

>On Monday 19 May 2003 00:54, Paul wrote:
>  
>
>>Hi Folks
>>
>>Busy working on the next BDI disk - A major departure from previous
>>versions, as it will be based on Debian not Red Hat. With over 12,000
>>packages to choose from, and nearly 1Gig of space left, I'm looking for
>>some suggestions. Two categories - Must Have apps, and Would be Nice.
>>
>>KDE and Gnome desktops will be left out in favour of a light and fast
>>desktop. The support libraries will still be included so some KDE/Gnome
>>apps should still run.
>>    
>>
>
>must have:
>ssh-server
>ssh-client  (for remote access)
>perl (for post processors)
>samba 
>smbfs options in kernel
>vi
>ftpd
>pppd
>
>nice:
>gnome
>qcad
>
>would-rather-not-have:
>mail readers
>news readers
>games
>KDE
>star office
>graphics apps (eg gimp)
>a million and one desk top applications not wanted on a machine controller
>
>after all, people who want all that can just apt-get it anyway. actually, 
>having a 'basic machine controller' and 'with desktop additions'  profiles 
>would probably satisfy both camps. IMHO, the BDI should only include by 
>default stuff directly connected with running a machine controller and helper 
>apps (such as samba and ftpd) for getting files onto it from outside sources. 
>the basic installation should not include stuff more related to a general 
>purpose linux workstation.
>
>ssh is *extremely* useful for when a client has problems with a machine. by 
>forwardign a local port onto a remote machine, it means I can get a shell on 
>the problem machine and work on it remotely.
>
>  
>