Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2002 08:44:45 -0600 From: Duane Attaway <dattaway@attaway.net> Subject: Re: What is Linux to you? Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0210301340410.6911-100000@attaway.net>
> You mean to tell me they replaced with PLCs that cost very little
> compared to a PC with PCs. Bad economic choice to begin with. Just buy
> one PC, and use it to generate reports, and use the PLCs for real time
> control. That is what they are designed for. I haven't seen a real
> time windows yet.
It may have something to do with the big Oracle database and the T1
corporate stuck in a room one day. Someone must have had this dream
everything should be controlled by One Computer. PLCs are wonderfully
modular and compact compared to large arrays of Opto-22 boards. There
were open standards for PLCs too, where you could use multiple vendors for
modules in racks.
I could tell you what happened when the proprietary backup software for
the Oracle server halted. Let's say when all the lines in the plant
stopped, I was in the front office on the phone all morning. And this
happened a lot.