Closed-source

[DuncanG]

When I first looked at Vems and purchased a kit it was clearly an open-source project. Now that I've managed to find some spare time to actually do something with the kit I find that the source code is no longer available and to all intents and purposes Vems is now a closed-source commercial project.

So what has happened and why the change of policy, and why is there barely any mention of this (that I can find) in the Wiki?

BTW its great to see a forum at long last rather than that god-awful wiki.

[rob@vems.co.uk]

Duncan, the source became closed after a company that manufactured a wideband system bought a v3 from us, and about 6months later came out with a range of lower cost, lower power consumption wideband products.   We became a little suspicious that all was not as it should be when we noticed that they had fresh air calibration and a few other quirks that looked familiar...

So to ensure that nothing like that happened again (as a number of advanced features were being planned, and now that there are five people working full-time in hungary), the source and hardware was closed.

You can still get access to certain modules if you want to apply for it, the general idea is that you identify the issue you wish to resolve or the feature your wanting to add and then you can get access to the particular source files and the objects to compile against.

Because there are developers working full-time on this its often better just to put in feature requests and wait for a few releases.

I'd be interested in what developments you'd be looking to do.

[DuncanG]

It seems the ethos has changed markedly since the MegasquirtAVR and early VEMS days. Presumably the original copyright holder is fully supportive of this change.

As to my plans - I was going to look again at the Subaru trigger, but apparently thats now complete and tested so doesn't need any work, and play around with some alternative boost control strategies. Basically just use it as an experimental toy for whatever took my fancy.

Btw are you the 'fatbob' that used to work at IndigoVision?

[rob@vems.co.uk]

The original copyright holders are the ones that have been the ones that have been instrumental in the development.
The ethos changed markedly once it was clear that people did not share the same good intentions as we did.

VEMS is still a good experimental toy, you'll find that the configuration and setup will keep you occupied for a bit, then if you find any glaring holes in the product you can suggest changes or request access to the system in order to make the change.

And yeah I used to work at IndigoVision, I'm sure I should know you then.

[DuncanG]

You were before my time. Don Macrae used to say good things about you - sometimes Its a small world.

I can't experiment without the source. However I can always use the last version I archived, but it seems rather pointless. Nevermind.

[dnb]

It doesn't take much doing to get access to the bits of source you need, so I haven't found the restricted access to be that much of a problem.  My biggest problem is lack of time to play! 

[DuncanG]

Working on the 'need to know', pleading for (read) access to files, working with one hand tied behind my back is nothing new to me and I'm sure not to David or Rob we've all been there, during work hours, but for a hobby I want to be free of all that bullshit.

Obviously there's no going back, Vems has gone commercial and I wish them success.

[dnb]

To me it works more like configuration management than "need to know".  Like you, I have more than enough of need to know at work!

[DuncanG]

With me it was definitely 'need to know'. I don't have a problem with someone taking a strong line on configuration management, in fact I strongly approve of that.

Anyway, I've had a good moan and thats the end of it afaic.

[future]

I was just looking for the source code and found this thread. I am interested in the event queue.
Last time I saw it had double tree now it is single. I'd like to learn what changed.

Thank you.