Ignition, post release activity and OPC vendors

I was impressed with the Ignition by Inductive Automation product release webinar. The Inductive Automation team did a first class job introducing the company, Ignition product platform and architecture, and the motivation behind the shift to OPC-UA. In a nutshell, their vision of the future of industrial software is: standards based, IT friendly, and platform independent. Get DCOM out of here! We want a top notch, secure SCADA system that runs equally well on Linux, a mac, or any flavor/service pack of the Windows rainbow. The demonstration included a full server installation, which took about 2 minutes, and highlighted the drag and drop ease of the new SQLTags History feature, which is deceptively simple, yet powerful.

We've been getting a huge number of hits to the new website by a number of companies across the world. We've also been getting a lot of interest in when more drivers will be available, like Siemens, Modbus, and Automation Direct in addition to the existing Allen Bradley suite.  I suppose this isn't surprising considering that we're the only cross-platform OPC-UA server available. While it shouldn't be too long before we get those drivers developed, this brings me to my next point...

Where are the other OPC-UA servers? We're really looking forward to a more vibrant marketplace for OPC-UA products. Kepware says they'll be releasing their OPC-UA server soon - we're looking forward to being able to test it with Ignition. This really excites me because it brings their extensive PLC product line to the table via OPC-UA. Unfortunately, I don't think it will be cross platform.

So, how about it? OPC vendors: the gauntlet has been thrown. The industry wants OPC-UA products! And if they're cross platform, all the better. When will we start seeing them?

Free AB Linux data logger

WebDock has been running a highly capable Linux version (60k transactions/min) in a plant since 2000. It works with Allen Bradley Ethernet PLC 5s and SLCs. I haven't had a chance to try it, so I'd appreciate, and will update this post with, feedback. Be warned, of course, that you get no promises, support, etc. That said, awesome! Maybe someone will put the project on Slashdot and get it moving!

Product Page
Download link
PLCS.net post

Dell Serious About Ubuntu: Launches First Consumer Linux PCs

From Toms Hardware News. Pretty self explanatory.

As an aside, you get real *interesting results doing a Google image search for Ubuntu Linux - crazy Hot European Computer geek chicks ;-). Link on a blog post covering it (may not want to click at work or with children or the wife around).

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/dell-linux-ubuntu-laptop,5932.html

Linux obsession on the forums

Lately the usual PLC forums have been unusually chatty about Linux. Perhaps it's the recent Windows update that installed the new version of the .NET Frameworks 2.0, the trend toward Open Office and Star Office, or the successful home experimentation with Ubuntu and Fedora. There's also been more complaints than ever about the complicated and equally crappy DCOM basis of OPC, which gets (probably unfairly) pinned on Microsoft. The OPC Foundation gets to be the knight in shining armor with UA. General users are correctly getting the sense that configuration, specifically security, need not be complicated and that getting rid of the old also brings the freedom ditching the entire (Windows) platform.

The consensus seems to be that programming software will remain Windows based for some time. Until users put the pressure on - and they're complaining, but not applying diddly-squat, nothing will change in that area. So it's a 90% solution - control systems can be chosen on a platform independent decision, but integrators will still be running around with Windows laptops to program the PLCs. That doesn't bother me too much. First, they break the things every couple of years - about as often as Windows seems to fail. Second, there's always virtualization, which has been getting easier and cooler over time.

I welcome the simplicity of the newer Linux build frondends and their (always) powerful backend. I remember when the thrill of playing with a new Linux system came to an abrupt halt when you realized that your devices weren't supported and the user interface sucked! It's great to see "normal users" have such a positive experience with installing such a new, foreign, system. If only they knew the complexity of the innards! Thank god they don't - they're users.

The future is...Linux?

I just finished reading this year old article entitled, "Windows Vista, The best thing that ever happened to Linux?". Like many other pro-Linux (read anti-Microsoft) papers, it offers compelling arguments that I find myself agreeing with. In fact, my specific Vista complaints were very similar to theirs (all the hardware intensive eye candy that OS X does better, dropping important announced features: WinFS (relational database based file system), PowerShell (advanced scripting), SecurID (authentication for network resources), and PC to PC synchronization). They continue to enumerate Microsoft attrocities and go on to how Linux will dominate the future - think OLPC "One Child Per Laptop", the $100 PC.

I can't say what the future holds. I do know that every time I install Linux on one of my laptops (for anything other than when I used to program school projects), it ends up being too pesky to reasonably use. I get wireless networking/printing, DVD playback, a word processor, and everything else that I "need" straight - then never end up using it. But Linux always wins the theoretical argument - what could be better? I also know that well written Linux "appliances" work well. My M0n0wall router served me so well up until I bought a QoS enabled "gaming" router. We've been tossing around the idea of a CD bootable, lightweight Linux image designed to run a FactoryPMI client. Like Knoppix - maybe based on it.

In the end I always find myself going back to Microsoft - it's disgusting! They ultimately steal, buy, or reinvent the better technology, and it works well for them. Remember when SQL Server used to suck? I do - but SQL Server 2005 is a great product, thanks Sybase! They're getting into virtualization. It sucks now, but mark my words, they'll be giving VMWare a run for their money in a couple of years. What about Microsoft Office - do you really ever want to use anything else?

So this gets me to the recent official release of FactoryPMI Linux support. My first reaction was, "Who cares? You can already run FactoryPMI clients on Linux - they're Java based"! After thinking about it - it's the direction and comittment that matter. I align much better with Linux ideology, and the community is rapidly growing. Who else is tired of problems with every new major Microsoft release? Also, the Open Source community has a lot of software developed to bring to the table that's very powerful, but still a little rough around the edges. Microsoft makes good products that I like to use, but would rather not be stuck with. The percentage of HMI/SCADA vendors in bed with them makes me sick. Entrapment, not standardization becomes a predicament for end users.

In the end will it be Linux? Microsoft? Who knows - let the greater community decide. For me, the most useful products win. I'd like to see Microsoft include the power features that they've been advertising since 2004, and Linux to get progressively easier to use for all levels of user. Kudos to the companies that let users decide on what platform they prefer.