[Elecraft] Spectrogram / Xoscope

[Nick Waterman]

Nick Waterman wrote:
> I thought this was way off-topic, so was going to reply off-list, then I
> realised...
> 
> Quality, stability, efficiency, ability to understand how it works,
[...]
> support, small, that's why I like Linux, and that's why I like Elecraft.
> 
> Big expensive mass-manufactured black-boxes that work THEIR way, poor
[...]
> expensive add-ons, expensive upgrade path, large, that's why I don't
> like YaeComWood or Microsoft.

I also forgot:

YaeComWood/Microsoft: If anything goes too wrong, "reinstall from
scratch" seems to be the standard accepted solution, and for some reason
people seem to think that's acceptable. You stand no hope of fixing any
internal issues yourself.

Elecraft/Linux: Reinstalling from scratch is almost never considered an
acceptable solution to a problem, though admittedly some odd people find
it fun to start again from scratch just for fun, not because of any
problem. Chances are, even if you can't fix it yourself, you can get
someone else to. Also, any extra hacks you want to make, even if you
can't work out how to do them yourself, someone else has probably
published a "howto" on the net. If you DO make a decent fix to the
internals yourself, you can contribute it back to the community, and
your fix might even make it into the next version.

YaeComWood/Microsoft: Designed by big faceless corporations. You stand
almost zero chance of talking to someone who can make a difference.

Elecraft/Linux: Designed by human beings. Cool human beings. Dudes who
actually chat on the mailing-lists and frequently actually reply
personally to your questions.

YaeComWood/Microsoft: You probably first saw the latest product in a big
expensive glossy advert, surrounded by marketing hype, wooly on
technical details.

Elecraft/Linux: You probably first saw the latest product online, or in
a technical article in a magazine. The article probably said how great
it was, and how it's easy to outperform something that cost well over
twice as much.

YaeComWood/Microsoft: Mass-produced identically. You buy pre-built, no
other option.

Elecraft/Linux: You can build it yourself if you want, from scratch,
from a scary number of separate parts. It's quite technical, but quite
fun. There are clear step-by-step instructions you can follow. You
probably wouldn't recommend it to a total beginner. It'll give you a
great sense of achievement using something you built yourself.
Alternatively, you can pay someone else to build it for you, and they
don't usually charge a fortune.

-- 
"Nosey" Nick Waterman, G7RZQ, K2 #5209.
use Std::Disclaimer;    sig at noseynick.net
God may be subtle, but He isn't plain mean. -- Albert Einstein