Thank
you Ben, and others for capturing the true essence of what makes
gnuradio and its community so great. Although it spans a great range of
disciplines and requires tremendous work (for some) to use and extend,
the community is normally quite friendly and willing to help.
I think this captures much of what makes GNU Radio so great, and I'm happy you share that opinion! =)
Of
course each individual should spend time doing the legwork to solve
their own issues, not over-relying on the community. The project has on
occasion been referred to as "Grad-ware" because so commonly it is used
by students in grad-school, and requires an equivalent level of
sophistication to use and extend.
Hah, that's actually the first time I had heard that phrase!
I
know my journey with Gnuradio started 10-15 years ago and it has taken
me as many years to finally get to the point where I can build some of
the logic that I had been contemplating for so many years. Some of my
greater ambitions will take another 5-10 years yet.
I think this is natural to SDR as a technology, and it's also why it's so fascinating in many regards, in my opinion. There's so much to learn!
By
the way the C++ suggestions that were so kindly provided were quite
useful in helping me get on the right foot, and with a bit of
refactoring my block is up and running - and is thread-safe now. I
studied C++ in college many years ago, and haven't had to use it since
then, except for my hobby projects in Gnuradio, so I am immensely
appreciative of those who have the patience to not only read the mailing
list inquiries, but to also offer their insights, without which some of
us would never be able to use and extend Gnuradio for useful purposes.
That's fantastic! I'm very happy to hear you have things up and running - nice work!
Thanks to Marcus and Albin for providing pointers, here!
The
more people that use the platform, the more the platform grows both in
community and in extensions and add-ons (custom blocks).
Very much agreed, and I think the
network effect
plays a not insignificant role. I also strongly believe that most of
the value of open source lies in the community, which is one of the reasons we try so hard to cultivate, grow, and support our community - which is one of the best around (IMO) =)
Cheers,
Ben