[XCSSA] Christmas Lights Display

[X-otic Computer Systems of San Antonio]

On Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 2:22 PM, X-otic Computer Systems of San
Antonio <xcssa at xcssa.org> wrote:
> Windows scheduler? Gonna have to call you out on that one, Tweeks, and I'm a Linux guy :) Windows seems like it can do better realtime processing than in Linux out of the box. No better example than audio handling. That will own your Linux box all over the place with high latency, poor timing, and all sorts of fun things.
>
That's a poor example, as the issue is likely sound card support, NOT threads.
A comparison between video cards that BOTH OS's support would be
better (but only if the 'proprietary' card allows open access to the
video driver source code).

> Yes, you can mitigate that with a tuned kernel, but typically Linux has been configured for throughput based workloads, which is no surprise given that it, in my opinion, is a superior choice for hosted applications, where throughput is more important than latency.
Ummmm... this is a differenct of comparing a monolithic kernel with an
OS running on a micro-kernel and expecting a monolithic kernel to have
superior performance across the board.
Old article : http://www.embedded.com/story/OEG20010418S0044
(didn't find a non-vendor comparison) micro to micro comparison :
http://www.lynuxworks.com/products/whitepapers/xp-vs-linux.php3

You DO need to use the appropriate distribution.  There are a few
Linux distros that
support real time scheduling out of the box (hard and soft realtime)
without tuning Linux.  And the issue with the windows software could
just as easily be the way the program uses windows fibers under
windows threads. Old artile:
http://www.embedded.com/story/OEG20010418S0044
Doesn't matter what the OS supports if the application doesn't make
use of the appropriate OS hooks :
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20000705S0044


Ok, just to keep this more XCSSA related, which is more likely to happen:
Pocket distributed computing on a set of matchbook z80's (
http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=394297) using
Linux or Windows?


>
> Now, going down the audio rabbit hole, ASIO is another thing lacking in Linux or just good hardware soundcard support in general. ALSA won't cut it. But I digress...
>
> The point is, I don't think you can blame the Winders scheduler this time :)
>
>
> On Dec 28, 2009, at 4:45 PM, X-otic Computer Systems of San Antonio wrote:
>
>> BTW.. For those who are too lazy to find his stuff on YouTube.. Here it is:
>>       http://www.youtube.com/user/CSTRANG70
>>
>> I found this guy's display interesting:
>>       http://www.youtube.com/user/CSTRANG70#p/a/f/0/rmgf60CI_ks
>>
>> Although those pauses are very obviously illustrating the weaknesses of the
>> Windows scheduler.  Do they not have this software that will run on a
>> Linux/UN*(X based OS yet?  Seems like it would run much smoother.
>>
>> Tweeks