So having an existing distro would then only need a little work to add what we need. And a little of our help to improve the distro. Instead of having to do everything. This to be able to keep our minds at the Maslow itself.
@Bee already mentioned PuppyLinux That also makes a nice candidate for the bare essentials (Arduino and GroundControl)
Then there is LinuxCNC but thatone is focussed on Realtime processing and direct machine control so in that regard it seems to have a slightly different focus
Many years back I made a Virtual Machine of Ubuntu with all of the software for the Makerbot CNC 3D Printer as a distribution testbed on local windows systems. It allowed testing before committing to it.
I’m plowing trough distrowatch.org but i’m surprised how little there seems to be on CNC. That sire is not the most easy one to navigate so i could be just looking in the wrong corner
You could do a base install of Arch. Then record / script the things you add on. Arch is a kernel and command line and the bare minimum to operate such as tools to get online. From there you build what you need. This would be the purest solution. This is taking on a big hair ball of a project to maintain. I did it once before.
That’s a bit of a tricky one. A real bootable USB would allow to circumvent any other OS and enable us to see if the entire connection path is ‘OK’. By being sure that there is no WinMac driver woopy interference.
if you are looking for a bootable USB environment, adding Docker doesn’t help,
it just adds more complexity.
What we are doing here is pretty simple, it’s more work to get Docker or the VM
environment up and running and configured properly than it is to get GC up and
running.
Neither one solves the driver issue, that has to be done on the base OS
If there is a distro specific to CNC (other than the LinuxCNC image), it’s such
a small niche distro that I wouldn’t want to have to depend on it.
There’s just nothing that’s specific to a CNC/3D printing workload (unless you
are needing real-time response so you can drive the motors directly, which is
why LinuxCNC is there and includes the real-time hacks)
and you could do the same thing with Ubuntu and Fedora. they even use the same
kernel and command line
thus the distro wars start…
Debian/Ubuntu/Raspbian has a wider installed base than Arch, and we will need to
support them anyway. I have no objection to supporting Arch, but I’ve seen too
many projects turn Arch-only
*buntu based makes most sense to me too. I only played a few times with Arch and it’s a bit over my head.
From that perspective i would strongly push toward *buntu so that people new to Linux based OS have a fighting chance to find common answers on common questions.
This is a CAD focussed distro based on ubuntu. Not sure if this is a good candidate to look at since we are more CAM focussed with the goal of what it should do
I am running Blender, QCad, LibreCAD, FreeCAD, DraftSight, Inkscape, Camotics, bCNC(Grbl) and the famous Maslow GroundControl with Ubuntu Mate. Plus my decade old fear of Arch linux was cured with Manjaro. Runs on an ancient desktop with PS2 sockets for keyboard and mouse (that’s not play station).
Kivy requires Ubuntu / Kubuntu / Xubuntu / Lubuntu (Saucy and above), the last time I checked LinuxCNC (runing my China 6040), they were still lower, so no fun for GC. Kubuntu LTS requires a upgrade of pyserial, but then also runs what I need. Lubuntu also tested and found running well.
So the newfangled little connectors? Real MB have DINs.
The little guys are still around, the last time I looked they still made motherboards with them.
Evil Mad Scientist made a CNC cut computer desk a while back to hold a desktop, and just mentioned it in their blog. Just the thing to hide the mouse and keyboard connector from the 4 legged mice
Can’t believe they are still around. A nightmare for Field Service, as the users would push and twist to break the pins…
But just in case to come across, here’s the pinout
