On 11/4/18 3:52 PM, Lars Knoll wrote:
On 4 Nov 2018, at 22:13, Roland Hughes <rol...@logikalsolutions.com> wrote:
We already lose droves of Qt developers every year when Qt keeps moving on but
medical devices, border security systems like cargo x-ray, train control
systems, etc. have to fork their own version of Qt because Qt keeps moving on
without a 5-8 year LTS.
Yes, the Open source and standard commercial versions come with a maximum of 3
years for LTS releases. But you can get longer support for Qt versions from The
Qt Company though.
Three years isn't a drop of water in Lake Michigan. A completely new
surgical robot will take a minimum of 4 years design and prototyping
followed by 1-3 years of development (which must also include the
_entire_ manufacturing process for certification.) Then it goes through
clinical trials which can last upwards of 7 years. Once released to the
field it will be in maintenance/minor enhancement mode for 10 years or
more. This entire time the tool set must be locked down.
While that may seem like a long time it pales in comparison with drug
manufacturing. Those manufacturing systems must be locked down from the
moment of certification until the drug leaves the market. Setting up a
new line with new tools requires a shiny new certification process. Just
this year a drug manufacturer in California fielded a job opening
looking for a PDP-11 systems manager familiar with hardware maintenance.
Some of you may recall that a PDP-11 was the machine C and UNIX were
developed on in the 1970s. It was _the_ midrange computer of its day but
hasn't been manufactured since the late 1980s. The drug(s) whose line(s)
it controls are obviously still on the market and obviously it is not
worth the cost and pain of retooling and recertification. This situation
happens with drugs to treat rare diseases. The market simply isn't large
enough to bring in competitors making generics.
--
Roland Hughes, President
Logikal Solutions
(630) 205-1593
http://www.theminimumyouneedtoknow.com
http://www.infiniteexposure.net
http://www.johnsmith-book.com
http://www.logikalblog.com
http://www.interestingauthors.com/blog
http://lesedi.us
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