Andy said he was an undergraduate genetics student who wanted to put together a lab to get hands-on experience in doing biology.
If he had said he was a novice who wanted to learn how to build his own circuit boards and design his own microcontroller systems, then I would certainly agree with Jonathan. What I got from Andy's original post was that he wanted some lab equipment, and was forced to build his own due to lack of funds. If someone donated a thermocycler to his cause, he would likely be done, as his goal is to use the thermocycler, not to build one.
Nothing in the "hacker ethic" says you have to etch a PC board, or even know how to do that. But I wouldn't let someone's statement of their principles be my straight-jacket anyway. If I want a hole dug, it doesn't have to be beautiful. I build spectrographs out of plumbing parts. What the hacker ethic page does say is that important resources should not be wasted. The time of a genetics student is an important resource. Telling a fencer he has to learn how to forge his own sword will not help him learn how to fence.
I like the Teensy boards. But they are overkill for the thermocycler, and the cheapest one costs $11.65, so I won't be handing them out to my students instead of the $2.54 Arduinos that do the job. And Andy's thermocycler will work fine on a solderless breadboard.
There is nothing wrong with Jonathan's point of view. He makes good points, and he's obviously bright, capable, and educated. He is just trying to apply someone else's "ethic" to people who don't share it. That's OK. His designs will be beautiful, robust, and they will work. They will take longer to build and be more expensive, and that is the way he likes to make the tradeoffs. There is a lot to be said for that. But it is expensive thermocyclers that were the problem we're trying to help Andy solve.
On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 2:06 PM, Jonathan Cline <jcline@ieee.org> wrote:
"it won't really matter if it's a kludge build" - yes, it will matter, as I described before, it matters quite a lot to hackers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic
It also matters quite a lot in terms of a clean implementation having tangible long term value, even to others:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory
Bandying about the term "agile" as it was mentioned before is no excuse for finalizing junk (even if the term is misapplied). Why not just label it a Microsoft product then? And if that metaphor isn't understood then nothing else I'm describing will be understood either.
## Jonathan Cline
## jcline@ieee.org
## Mobile: +1-805-617-0223
########################
On 3/26/15 12:59 PM, Jeswin wrote:
Everyone else seems to be thinking through the
DIY/hobby design viewpoint, i.e., simple-to-build. The former will be
more elegant in terms of circuitry, software, and even the enclosure.
If you're a hobbyist (any level of skills), then it won't really
matter if it's a kludge build, as long as the basic components do
their job and you can get "up n' running" quickly.
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