Re: [OctDev] [PKG] Instrument control: GPIB, USBTMC, VXI11

[Jordi G. H. <jo...@oc...>]

On 27 November 2012 12:27, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX wrote:

> My instrument control is just for communicating with external
> (standalone) instruments over different interfaces. There's no
> direct driver support for DAQ devices.
>
> Some time ago I looked at comedi library, but there's no support for
> my NI-5421 DAC. Unfortunately, I had to build a standalone exe, link
> it to NI's fgen and made a system call from octave. Terrible
> workaround, but it should be GPL save. :)

The technical details (pipes or dynamic or static linking) aren't what
makes the exe a derivative work of Octave or not, but rather the
fundamental nature of the communication and the kind of the data
exchanged. For example, is your exe producing output that only Octave
would understand and is only meant to be used with Octave? If so, this
is a GPL violation.

What kind of effort would it take to make comedi support your NI
hardware? This is the real long-term solution.

- Jordi G. H.