[chirp_users] New chirp-next build

[Stuart Longland VK4MSL]

On Mon, 2 Jan 2023 09:14:03 -0600
Dean Berglund <deanberg2044 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Tony, you are correct although just because Microsoft doesn't support 
> Windows 7 doesn't mean a program can't still work on Windows 7.

Likely the limiting factor is, the runtime environment Chirp runs
on: Python.  And given how much of a royal pain in the arse it is to
support Microsoft Windows in any capacity compared to POSIX-like OSes
such as Linux and MacOS X, I can understand why.

Serial ports are a nightmare to support under Windows.  Anything Unix
like, gives you a "standard" interface built around file descriptors
with a common API for reading, writing, waiting for data, etc.  Windows
has one "special" API for network sockets and a second "special" API
for serial ports.

Thus lots of special-case code has to be written "just" for Windows.

This is a platform that the manufacturers support by default.  Windows
users have _lots_ of options available for programming radio equipment.
For some equipment, it's your ONLY option.

By comparison, Mac and Linux users often have only Chirp to turn to.
(Some DMR radios can be programmed using `dmrconfig` -- I'm unaware of
any other radio programming software packages for these OSes.)

Linux is a free download and can be run inside a virtual machine at no
monetary cost to the end user beyond the Internet quota costs doing so.
There is no legal impediment to doing this.

By contrast, people legally CANNOT USE Windows on a Linux-based desktop
without purchasing a license from Microsoft -- and for a VM they expect
you to pay top-dollar retail for it.  And no, it is not a given that
the computer came with Windows 10/11 -- especially if you build the
machine from components.

If the Chirp project decided to re-instate support for Windows 7, that
would mean having to run on an older release of Python such as Python
3.8 (which should work on Windows Vista and later).  If people want
Windows XP support, then we're stuck with Python 3.4.  Python 3.4 does
not support `async/await` features (introduced in 3.5, used by a lot of
I/O libs) or type annotations (introduced in 3.6, gaining increasing use
now too).

It's a big job to essentially fork old versions of underlying libraries
and frameworks to support them yourself.  Big enterprise pays big money
for that sort of thing.  I would suggest a virtual machine running an
open-source OS is the easier and cheaper alternative.
-- 
Stuart Longland (aka Redhatter, VK4MSL)

I haven't lost my mind...
  ...it's backed up on a tape somewhere.