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  • https://github.com/balrog-kun/ardupilot YMMV - I want to keep rebasing it on the weekends while possible, right now admittedly you probably aren't gaining much by using it instead of the last officially supported APM version.

    BTW I should say I understand the reasons behind dropping support for this quite horrible 8-bit CPU and perhaps other non-Linux boards in the future.  It's a sad coincidence.

    balrog-kun/ardupilot
    APM Plane, APM Copter, APM Rover source. Contribute to balrog-kun/ardupilot development by creating an account on GitHub.
  • Maybe I should take it up with you privately but given that I have a bunch of Chinese hardware, I'd love to know where your tree lives if you're keeping APM functionality alive.

  • BTW the reason I started to maintain that tree is so I could contribute a piece of code to the project, as otherwise I'd have no test platform.  The availability of a cheap hardware platform usually brings a boost in development man-hours to a project.

  • I agree that I was a bit confrontational but I've heard complaints about how the Chinese are "stealing" for years from certain people in the ardupilot community when, in fact, they're largely using the license in an exactly legal fashion. It is like people like open source licenses until they realize people can just copy stuff and then the sky is falling. I mean, the point of open source is that it is...open source.

  • You already can't run dome APM versions with a number of the boards. They mysteriously "don't work" (though work fine if you revert to a slightly more early version). The received wisdom, true or not, with the hobby folks I know is that this was done on purpose to fight the Chinese clones.

    There are already $100 Pixhawk 1 boards out there too: http://www.readytoflyquads.com/rtfhawk-2-4

  • Last I checked, the license did not prohibit "soulless leaches." I guess the project needs a better open source license that does.

  • I have to agree with Al although his initial wording wasn't great (I also work on open-source for a living).  If the boards are designed and published under a specific license it has to be assumed that this was the will of the licensor.  My assumption then has to be they sold the board at the price they could manufacture it at but allowing and perhaps even expecting and supporting someone else being able to produce it cheaper perhaps because as the users of their own board it benefits them too.  I know if I designed my FC board and it was quite expensive but a year later someone could make it for me for a 5th of the price I'd love it because I could use it a lot more.

    The only other possibility is that a free license is used mainly to attract users.

    I also am quite sad ArduPilot mainline is dropping APM support just as these boards are reaching the availability levels ($65 incl. GPS) of other FC boards (MWC, OpenPilot).  If we assume clones always take time to catch up, that software may never actively support a board at "disposable" prices.  I started maintaining an updated ArduPilot tree with APM support removal reverted but the development is going in a direction that says it won't last long.

  • @Al Billings, the cloners do not contribute to the project, either monetarily, nor to the code base itself. which is the very spirit of open source. They do not offer customer support, nor support the project in any way.
    Personally I consider cloners to be soulless leaches.
  • Admin

    Gentlemen,

    Let's keep these posts civil and back away from the flames or I will closeout this thread to any further posts which would be a shame.

    Regards,

    TCIII Admin

  • How much do you pay for your web browser, Rob? Are you stealing it by not paying or is it, perhaps, open source and freely available?

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