Actually I think the easiest answer to "Why don't people just use Windows?" is that we don't want to.
For that reason I use a source based GNU Linux distribution, Gentoo. I've been using Gentoo for almost 10 years and still love it. It's certainly not for everyone and I have spent a lot of time fine tuning it to my taste.
But I'll be honest, getting Arduino 1.0 to work on it took even me as an experienced user many hours.
dhunt:
Hey Nick,you might like this makefile from Tim Marston. I've updated it to work with the mac ~/Documents/Arduino directory. Just drop it in a sketch directory and run make. Note that it does not yet work with attiny since it does look for hardware under ~/Documents/Arduino, but I plan to fix that.
So you skip the IDE, is that it? And get warnings? Sounds good.
This.
I find it's proof positive of "idiotproofing" OSes for novice users. If you know what you're doing, OTOH, you're pretty much stuffed.
Even if you don't IMHO.
Here's an example ... some devices nowadays save you the trouble of doing a File -> Save (or hitting OK on a dialog box) because they have "instant" changing. For example, on an iPhone if you change most things the changes are immediate. So you get used to "make the change, done!" mentality. Then you go onto a Web order form, fill in everything you want, and walk away. But you missed the "Submit" button down the bottom (possibly not even visible).
So now you have to work out ... do I need to confirm an action, in this particular app, or not?
I prefer the old days
do something
syntax error
Yeah, using computers without a GUI and only a command line, the big floppies, and no hard drives. Some of the first computers I assembled were like that. I still have some of the parts, like a couple 8086 chips.
The good old days. (And I'm only 31.) XD
At least I've got the Arduino to mess around with now though.
I just had that moment with that device I don't like too much. I think it's culture. Computing has come a long way from secret nuclear reaction simulator to scientific/engineering tool, to personal entertainment a.k.a cheap thrill machine. The seriousness when you use a computer has become non-existing. How serious are you when you turn on a computer to view the web? In the old days, computer labs were temperature and humidity controlled with raised floors and some special ceiling panels. One has to change shoes and possibly wear a lab coat before entering a computer lab. Now I imagine people use computers/tablets on public transportation, bathroom or maybe in bed. There must be a whole bunch of people that don't care what a computer does as long as they can play with it and get entertained. The instant change fits them well. For the rest of us that had trainings on how to use a computer decades back, we just can't take things as casually as they can. The company that I don't like too much even has it in its new product TV ad, which I don't like either, saying that "when you are conscious with only what you are doing, not the device you are doing with". This means you are not supposed to notice that you are changing a computer setting but like you are picking up a a pen and scribble on paper randomly, both of which involve no confirmation in your head that you are making changes (to computer or paper). You just do it, no relevant thoughts needed, just intuition.
Wrend:
Yeah, using computers without a GUI and only a command line, the big floppies, and no hard drives. Some of the first computers I assembled were like that. I still have some of the parts, like a couple 8086 chips.The good old days. (And I'm only 31.) XD
At least I've got the Arduino to mess around with now though.
I collect those, cpus, game floppy (cd or tape), literature and I trade with my arduino hardware. If interested in anything on the list that I trade (I sell them too), PM me.