Perhap bouncesTCLUG actually bounces.

And you are right about everything you say. I2C is great (TWI is old 
Atmel's term). Python is popular (but Python used a tk GUI binding. And 
tcl will nicely connect to an Arduino Uno R3 /dev/ttyACMX, and even run 
"firmata."). So as you say you can have a marvelous smart terminal with 
all these microcontrollers, but sometimes you still need to wire your 
smart terminal to a serious linux box.


--Iznogoud says--

Perhaps there was an issue with your connection from the boonies! I do not
see how the list-server would not just push your post to the list.

Regarding serial port programming, there is quite a bit of info out there.
And the only real issue I see is the popularity of USB on physical devices,
i.e. you cannot find most tinker-toys or components with a serial port, 
while
USB devices are widespread. For that there is the "FTDi chip" which does 
this
kind of translation of USB to serial -- I know of it from automotve hardware
and software applications. Regardless, the internet is vast with info on
programming the serial port, but you may want to consider components with
more modern and "wrapped" protocols, like I2C compatible components. If you
have a project that needs to use modern consumer electronics components, you
are more likely to run into an I2C compatible component than a serial port
one. There is an I2C stack on the linux kernel and it works really well. We
(a friend and I) programmed a tilt-sensor and display with an accelerometer
over I2C driven by Python on a Ras Pi, and it included a graphical 
display on
the X11 screen fo the Ras Pi. (And I hate Python!) We also recently 
struggled
at an IoT hack-day to connect a soil-moisture sensor to the Ras Pi via 
I2C...
+
+
+
See my comments above. Most people coming out of college and into the market
as engineers and technicians do Python and use stacks that are already 
there.
The days of very raw serial protocol programming are for one (or two)
generations behind. Yup, we are old -- you older than me -- and we can still
learn, and should learn, a new thing or two.+




Rick Engebretson wrote:
> Here is an old (1995) favorite serial port hardware reference
>
> http{delete this space}://{delete this space}www.{delete this
> space}sytekcom.com/eng/SerialPort-hardware.{delete this space}html.
>
> Most all of the UART register set, and more, is accessible using POSIX
> termios functions.
>
> I have looked hard at Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and other popular
> microcontroller boards. Nothing I found compares to the plus and minus
> 12 volt RS232 line drivers. Nothing I found compares to the interrupt
> handling of many, many UART events.
>
> Also interesting is how Linux can now use new shared high interrupts
> with PCI UARTs.
>
> I don't know how industry will grow without automation. And I don't know
> how automation can grow without Linux and the serial port.
>
> I hope somebody copies and saves the above web document.
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