Re: Mini-ITX PC's a the future of HA (was Re: X-10 Mister House Motion sensor problems)

["Dean Roddey" <droddey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't think that's the case. Windows doesn't crash by itself. It crashes
because it's mostly used in a way that any system would crash, i.e. where a
non-technical person is free to do anything he/she likes with it. Linux
wouldn't do any better in that situation. But in the automation scenario,
the PC being used as an automation controller is not being used on a daily
basis (directly), it's just acting as a back end to a touch panel and is
never used for surfing the web or getting e-mail or playing games or
downloading illegal crap and so forth. In that kind of situation, where it's
set up for a single purpose and left alone, running quality software and
drivers on quality hardware, it will run completely stably for years. It
happens all the time in the industrial and commercial worlds, where the PCs
are used in this very way.

So it's really nothing to do with Microsoft refusing to create a stable OS.
They've already done that, if it's used correctly. But if every single
person out there worked on their own cars, and put their own performance
mods and add ons into it, using a 'performance mods wizard', what do you
figure the state of cars would be? There's no way you can create an OS
that's as open to as much hardware and software variations as Windows and
keep it stable when Joe Blow is the one maintaining it, an surfing the web
with no real knowledge of network security and the kids are surfing illegal
gaming and media sites and so forth.

-------------------------------------
Dean Roddey
Chairman/CTO, Charmed Quark Systems
www.charmedquark.com

"Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:H5SdneP4M_pqBRbZnZ2dnUVZ_qGdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxx
Unfortunately, I think robustification process almost certainly means a
Unix-based platform.  People have accepted that Windows crashes because they
keep buying it anyway.  There's not much incentive for MS to improve the
product if people don't care about having to reboot.