From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from snark.thyrsus.com (static-71-162-243-5.phlapa.fios.verizon.net [71.162.243.5]) by huchra.bufferbloat.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4F7D02011CD for ; Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:43:58 -0700 (PDT) Received: by snark.thyrsus.com (Postfix, from userid 1000) id DE5F640617; Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:43:41 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:43:41 -0400 From: "Eric S. Raymond" To: Dave Taht Message-ID: <20120313014341.GC18695@thyrsus.com> References: <20120312210345.GC17357@thyrsus.com> <20120312212608.GC17895@thyrsus.com> <20120312213946.GE17895@thyrsus.com> <20120312224546.GA18404@thyrsus.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: Organization: Eric Conspiracy Secret Labs X-Eric-Conspiracy: There is no conspiracy User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) Cc: thumbgps-devel@lists.bufferbloat.net Subject: Re: [Thumbgps-devel] Build vs. modify vs. what should we be doing anyway? X-BeenThere: thumbgps-devel@lists.bufferbloat.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.13 Precedence: list Reply-To: esr@thyrsus.com List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:43:58 -0000 Dave Taht : > As noted elsewhere it might be cool to get away from serial > emulation entirely. I agree. For years I've thought it was silly that SiRF or somebody else hasn't designed a direct-to-USB GPS chip. Such an obvious next step considering how obsolete RS232 is becoming - they could reduce parts count drastically *and* claim a larger share of end-product BOM for a double win. Unfortunately, exactly *because* it's so obvious, the fact that it hasn't been done sends an unpleasant message about the front-loaded costs of this plan. They must be pretty high. If SiRF can't hack them, they're sure as hell out of our reach. -- Eric S. Raymond