Using Path Pilot for CNC Upgrades

Seeing PathPilot is LinuxCNC are there any rules from a legal standpoint regarding using it to support conversions for customers that don't own a Tormach? Seeing the interface at this point is well supported in the CNC community I think this might be a solution to the more basic interfaces currently available in LinuxCNC.

What is stopping the LinuxCNC dev community from just offering the PathPilot skin as a default option in LinuxCNC?

Pretty sure the interface is what is not open source and what will get you in trouble.
Better way of going about it is to buy their USB drives with everything included, and modify that.
Probably will have to buy one for each machine you do, last time i checked the price was 35$, so very reasonable.

Tormach have an obligation to offer their source but that does not mean they have to make it easy to use on different hardware.
I've never understood why people want to use it on non-Tormach hardware. It might make sense if you do own a Tormach machine already. LIfe is much easier if you use one of the standard GUI's
Surely some of the newer GUI's are equally as capable? Have a look at QTdragon as an example. It has everything you could conceivbly want. Choice of probing optoins, conversational machining, Great documentation, no restrictions.

CNC4Life wrote:

What is stopping the LinuxCNC dev community from just offering the PathPilot skin as a default option in LinuxCNC?

Copyright on the images and such that they created, as I understand it.

Rod has a point. The interface is so geared toward their machines, boards, upgrade methods, etc. I'm not sure why you'd choose to go the PathPilot route on a non-Tormach machine.

CNC4Life wrote:

What is stopping the LinuxCNC dev community from just offering the PathPilot skin as a default option in LinuxCNC?

snowgoer540 wrote:

Copyright on the images and such that they created, as I understand it.

Rod has a point. The interface is so geared toward their machines, boards, upgrade methods, etc. I'm not sure why you'd choose to go the PathPilot route on a non-Tormach machine.

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Thanks for the support. A liitle birdie told me you are also a Tormach owner as well as a QTplasmac developer so its appreciated...

WHY PathPilot ?? Because Tormach has skin in the game. It is consistant AND has a presence in the CNC world so it is important that PP works and that Tormach will be using in for the near future .

How many times in the past have you seen LinuxCNC versions come and GO when the authors get tired of all the hard work and just leave everyone to fend for themselves. Then the next super dooper version comes to life and teh cycle starts all over again.

So far Tormach is one of only a few versions that has been fully supported and remains so. ( And seeing that Tormach has to depend on PathPilot so sell machines they will continue to support it unitl they change the GAME and fully develope their OWN operating system OR switch over to a commercial controller.

For now as long as you stay inside of the PathPilot /Tormach parameters you get a fully supported controller at little to no cost . So why would you NOT select PathPilot and the Tormach model for your hobby mahine ???

( TP