[C.CC USERS] Use question

[Matt Jadud]

Hi all,

There's an end-user question in here. Wait for it.

The developer's list has been reasonably active; we've moved the code base
from our home-hosted SVN to Github, and we're moving along getting things
cleaned up on the back-end. These things, in combination, should make it
easier for people to get involved if they are so inclined. (Eg. go to
Github, hit "fork," and play along!)

The challenge with projects like this, especially when the core team are
academics, is that we have all these distractors: students (teaching,
advising), committee administrative work, writing grants, etc. You know,
all those things that get in the way of good-old-fashioned writing and
maintaining code. And, as team members get degrees and move on, or move
institutions, and so on, it represents additional reduction in work
capacity.

My point: we're down in numbers. Lately, I've been spending time trying to
resuscitate parts of the build system. This is a project unto itself, and
it's a very ugly project. The Windows build is complex, has lots of
dependencies, and all of those have been updated/upgraded/changed since our
last builds in 2011. The Mac build is easier, but is still in need of love.

I'd like to make the following change, and if you're keen on using occam on
the Arduino, let me know what you think:

1. Move the compiler to a server. It will be a Linux-based machine, and our
Linux-based tools "just work," by-and-large.

2. Build a small, stand-alone app that you can use to open a file, set of
files, or folder, and then hit "compile." It will ship the code to the
server, compile it, and ship it back. This will be for the Arduino only; it
will not support running occam-pi code on your native machine.

3. The stand-alone app will then upload your code to your Arduino using
AVRdude.

I wrote a version of this last summer for another project; it's small,
simple, and easily maintainable. You'll be able to use your choice of text
editor, and it will be easier for us to support a wider variety of
Arduinos, because we'll be spending less time on build systems and editor
plugins, and more time on things like library support for hardware. And,
the nice thing is, the firmwares for the Arduinos will be centralized: if
we fix something, all you have to do is select "Install Firmware" from the
little stand-alone app, it will pull down the most recent version from the
server, install it, and (as they say) "Bob's your uncle."

I've spent hours with the Windows build, and that's going to take weeks of
work on my part (while balancing student researchers and family) to bring
back to life right now. I've also been experimenting with a web-based
editor, but it doesn't easily handle multiple files (and it would need a
native component anyway). This seems like the simplest, quickest way to get
updates for occam-on-Arduino updated and going again.

Opinions or thoughts?

Cheers,
Matt
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