On 12/22/2016 3:30 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
The whole _point_ of releasing the code is that it gets the manufacturers
hands out of the whole thing.
Yeah, it requires a license for the RTOS and a build environment to build
the firmware. It's not an easy thing to do.
But by releasing the source code, the manufacturer turns it from their
problem to the end user's problem.
But it's easier for the manufacturer to simply say "no longer supported"
and let the user decide when it's time to buy a replacement. Some
hardware is worth sustaining forever, particularly if it's big enough so
that real people with real tools can work on it. The Mackie HDR is in
the questionable range - it's a great product, but even with access to
the code for the application and the EPROMs, it would be a big job to
re-engineer what can't be directly replaced. The Ampex MM-1200 is a
different story. Bob Starr has a new servo and tension control system
for it, new record and playback cards, and JRF is still making heads, so
for double the price of a running chassis, you can have a
better-than-new analog multitrack. And for the 50 people who want one,
that's probably a good deal.
But a software program that was abandoned ten years ago? There's
probably something on the market today that does the same job better.
They don't care about one guy who has a never-registered copy who can't
use it without a hack.
--
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