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Open Source Things
24 February 2009 12:37Lately I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the RepRap project.
The leaders of the RepRap project have been trying very hard to compare it to an open source software project, and I think have done so very successfully. I would like to extend that comparison with an analogy: RepRap is the GCC of widgets[1].
Now, GCC is a great tool but it needs some things to help it out, like the GNU utilities and an OS. This brings to mind the next question, what, then, would be the GNU utils of widgets? Or even the Linux (or OSS *nix of your choice) of widgets?
I have a few ideas. There are specialized things[2] that a RepRap needs that it cannot easily make, but can be easily made with the right tools. A more specialized tool could be built, using parts made from a RepRap to create circuit boards, including etching, placing and soldering. Other tools could be made, also using RepRap created parts, to assist in assembly, wind motors, prep wire, and so on. A collection of these helper tools would be the GNU utils of widgets.
Looking farther into the future, what then would be the OS of widgets? I would see it as a robotic arm capable of taking RepRapped parts and assembling them into finished (or near finished) goods and a coordination program that make certain that the various tools are making the right things at the right time.
Take that even farther, let the tech advance a bit and you suddenly have robotic life.
[1] By widget, I mean the economic definition: a generic manufactured object.
[2] Anything I can't cheaply pick up at Lowe's or Stock Drive.
The leaders of the RepRap project have been trying very hard to compare it to an open source software project, and I think have done so very successfully. I would like to extend that comparison with an analogy: RepRap is the GCC of widgets[1].
Now, GCC is a great tool but it needs some things to help it out, like the GNU utilities and an OS. This brings to mind the next question, what, then, would be the GNU utils of widgets? Or even the Linux (or OSS *nix of your choice) of widgets?
I have a few ideas. There are specialized things[2] that a RepRap needs that it cannot easily make, but can be easily made with the right tools. A more specialized tool could be built, using parts made from a RepRap to create circuit boards, including etching, placing and soldering. Other tools could be made, also using RepRap created parts, to assist in assembly, wind motors, prep wire, and so on. A collection of these helper tools would be the GNU utils of widgets.
Looking farther into the future, what then would be the OS of widgets? I would see it as a robotic arm capable of taking RepRapped parts and assembling them into finished (or near finished) goods and a coordination program that make certain that the various tools are making the right things at the right time.
Take that even farther, let the tech advance a bit and you suddenly have robotic life.
[1] By widget, I mean the economic definition: a generic manufactured object.
[2] Anything I can't cheaply pick up at Lowe's or Stock Drive.