Hi Ez,

> I can pretty much guarantee if you pose this 'INDI or Alpaca' question on the INDI forum

This is not the ASCOM forum. It is the Astro-Physics mount forum. Besides, ASCOM and Alpaca are open source yet INDI exists. Why haven't the INDI developers given up and started working to help the much larger ASCOM pool of users? It's probably because ASCOM runs on Windows! So I think the real reason INDI exists is there are Mac and Unix/Linux user out there that don't want to run windows.

The number of software developers with the skillset, time, and astronomy knowledge to help create non-Windows applications is small. How many active Astro-Physics mount owners are also software developers active on INDI?

Also, is there are way to find out how many A-P mount owners regularly run INDI?

> you won't get one person in support of the closed model you are using or apparently pursuing.

But the A-P command protocol is not closed. Enough of the protocol is available to do useful astronomy and astrophotography work. The amount of the protocol published doesn't change the excellent machine work, design features, and precision of these mounts.

> This poll really seems to be not much more than confirmation bias and definitely a bit disingenuous. If AP had
> absolutely no intention to open the driver up, why ask? I ask this earnestly.

First, A-P has agreed to provide more of the protocol to help INDI improve their driver. Michael seems to be unhappy that 100% of the protocol won't be documented, including proprietary commands and dangerous commands that could affect the proper functioning of the mount if used incorrectly.

BTW, undocumented features and protocols exist commonly in many hardware devices. For example a number of undocumented CPU instructions and device driver back doors were found in Intel CPUs by researchers.

Second, you must have missed my post where I proposed to create a cross-platform driver that would work with Alpaca, INDI, and INDIGO. However, I never said it would or wouldn't be open source. The idea is that since INDI is here today it may make sense to work with INDI developers first.

Ultimately, I think what matters most to 99.9% of the people is that the mount driver works for their O/S and is supported by the company that built it. Right now the state of the INDI driver doesn't seem to be good and needs help. It is coming in the form of more protocol commands and possibly with a hand in development, assuming the offer to help isn't rejected simply because A-P isn't documenting 100% of the protocol.

-Ray Gralak
Author of APCC (Astro-Physics Command Center): http://www.astro-physics.com/index.htm?products/accessories/software/apcc/apcc
Author of PEMPro V3: https://www.ccdware.com
Author of Astro-Physics V2 ASCOM Driver: https://www.siriusimaging.com/apdriver

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ap-gto@... [mailto:ap-gto@...]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2019 9:45 PM
> To: ap-gto@...
> Subject: RE: [ap-gto] INDI or ASCOM Alpaca?
>
>
>
> I just did a poll in my household of how many people like their last name.... Looks like were not changing it.
>
> I can pretty much guarantee if you pose this 'INDI or Alpaca' question on the INDI forum you won't get one person in
> support of the closed model you are using or apparently pursuing. You might get a better read of the interest on CN,
> if you truly want to know what people think. I don't mean to be rude and I actually find your software products quite
> useful, but you can't be serious if you think this poll represents the total user base of AP mounts or even the total
> potential user base of new customers. I purchased my AP mount in spite of the OS that it is linked to, because I felt
> it was a better mechanical product than what I was comparing it against. The SB mounts have native support on 3
> operating systems. For me, they don't need to be open source because they give a choice.
> < br>
> This poll really seems to be not much more than confirmation bias and definitely a bit disingenuous. If AP had
> absolutely no intention to open the driver up, why ask? I ask this earnestly. It seems to only have opened a sore
> spot and potentially alienated potential new mount customers. Furthermore, I am not sure this approach offers any
> data that could be valuable as marketing research either.
>
>
>
> I look forward to seeing where the ALPACA leads us. Hopefully it will mean I can operate my 1100 mount without
> windows... at all, anywhere in my system. Otherwise I do not see the point of it and perhaps just continuing the
> development of current products is a better use of resources.
>
>
> Ez
>
>
>