Farnell offering exclusive development software?

[neftronics]

Just a quick one... I have just read in an email from Farnell that they are offering exclusive software.

"This powerful, low cost Single Board Computer is designed to provide developers and educators a hands-on approach to programming. Based on a Broadcom BCM2835 containing an ARM1176JZFS running at 700Mhz and a Videocore 4 GPU capable of Blu-ray/HD quality video. Supported by an exclusive bundle of software tools available to Farnell element14 customers only."

Is this true or is their marketing dept. being a bit naughty?!

[nick.mccloud]

How the chuff should we know - why not ask Farnell???

[hayesey]

nmcc said:


How the chuff should we know - why not ask Farnell???


Well that's another nice warm welcome to a new user eh?

Perhaps the RPF just might know about it if they are making some software available exclusively to Farnell.

[colincoach]

hayesey said:


nmcc said:


How the chuff should we know - why not ask Farnell???


Well that's another nice warm welcome to a new user eh?

Perhaps the RPF just might know about it if they are making some software available exclusively to Farnell.


Good point. Hopefully when the new forum structure is implemented there will be topics that are oriented towards new users and they wont get met with such brash replies!!

[neftronics]

Oh dear! I didn't realise I had joined an exclusive old boys club! What do I have to do to become initiated?

Joking aside, thanks Hayesey - that's exactly why I was asking. I haven't read anything about it on here and it didn't ring true, so I was trying to get it from the horses mouth.

Sorry if this was a stupid question!

[TheTap]

I am sure that I am not alone in wishing to be excluded from nmcc's use of the word 'we' in this instance

[steviewevie]

My wild guess is that Farnell are making up some sort of bundle of tools, probably based on open-source, and they are being a bit liberal with their usage of the word "exclusive".

[jamesh]

I've not heard anything about an exclusive bundle of software from Farnell. Liz might know, or maybe its entirely Farnells initiative - up to them really. Whichever, the best place to ask will be Farnell, as it's their software package.

If anyone does find out, I'd be interested to know what the package is!

[meltwater]

It is one which starts a DoS attack on RS Components…using several thousand RPis.

[bbramble]

Probably exclusive as in "no-one else (that we know) has put together exactly this combination of software on a CD"

[nick.mccloud]

nmcc said:


How the chuff should we know - why not ask Farnell???


Sorry, twas a bit harsh, having a bad day, someone swapped a component on a batch of boards for a customer and we now have to take them back and rework them. Deja vu.

[cashaw]

It's a fair question and a good idea if Farnell can offer "starter packs" with a basic SD card loaded and configured to get newbies on their way.

I wouldn't class myself as a complete newbie, but it would also be good if they offered a list of approved USB dongles which are known to work on the RPI, WiFi and bluetooth etc. I have always found the most taxing part of working with Linux is to figure out how to configure my accessories to work with it. I always seem to run into the issue of "Linux does not support the chipset that this hardware contains…"

It's equally ironic that on the day the manufacturing problem with the first batch of the RPI was announced, I was speaking to one of our hardware bods who was describing to me the various problems which can always occur with the first batch of any hardware, including wrong components. He said he always gets nervous the day the first production run of a circuit board is delevered for testing.

[getitonbangagong]

nmcc said:


nmcc said:


How the chuff should we know - why not ask Farnell???


Sorry, twas a bit harsh, having a bad day, someone swapped a component on a batch of boards for a customer and we now have to take them back and rework them. Deja vu.


Not so much harsh, just rude really, still I suppose that was almost an apology.

[grumpyoldgit]

I think perhaps people are getting a bit sensitive. They need to man up a bit. I didn't watch my buddies die face down in the mud ........

[getitonbangagong]

Good manners cost nothing.

[jamesh]

getitonbangagong said:


Good manners cost nothing.


Indeed they don't but you were not the original poster who received the reply, and I think it up to them to decide whether the final response from nmcc was appropriate.

No further comment on this subject please. Feel free to continue with the Farnell starter pack stuff though.

[Joules]

I think perhaps people are getting a bit sensitive. They need to man up a bit. I didn"t watch my buddies die face down in the mud ……..

Well you shouldn"t sell the first 10k of Raspberry Pi"s in a field on a wet day.

[neftronics]

OK, apology accepted. nmcc was having a bad day and has been ticked off enough! No hard feelings.

@meltwater: DoS attack on RS - That made me laugh!

A little anecdote: When I visited Farnell's head office in Leeds a few years ago, they had a mural painted in their stairwell depicting a cartoon of their corporate strategy. What sticks in my mind was their army firing arrows from the Farnell HQ over a big hill at a large building with the RS logo on it and lots of other suggested skullduggery! So - DoS attack may not be too far off the mark!

[cashaw]

On Look North a couple of weeks back they did a piece on the RPI and quoted Farnell in Leeds as the only global distributer of the device, I wonder where Look North got this information from  I've always admired* Look North's ability to find a local angle to any global news story, however obscure.

I am still smarting after attempting to order a replacement ZX81 keyboard from Farnell in 1986, it was listed in their catalogue. After weeks of waiting they finally responded that they had no more in stock and were unlikely to ever receive any more. My ZX81 is still sat in a drawer awaiting a replacement keyboard (the ribbon cable on those were paper thin).

(* - In the same way that I don't admire this forum's ability to change apostrophes into quotation marks when I edit a reply)

[fos]

neftronics said:


Oh dear! I didn't realise I had joined an exclusive old boys club! What do I have to do to become initiated?

Joking aside, thanks Hayesey - that's exactly why I was asking. I haven't read anything about it on here and it didn't ring true, so I was trying to get it from the horses mouth.

Sorry if this was a stupid question!


Some horses don't always talk out of their mouthes.

I thought it was a good question, I received the same email.

[tritonium]

@neftronics

"Supported by an exclusive bundle of software tools available to Farnell element14 customers only."

I dont see the 'FREE' word in there - is this a way of leveraging extra cash from the buyer?

Dave

[Andre_P]

I don't know about the Software bundle but I've seen reference to various accessory packs.

I asked if RS were going to do something similar but their Twitter presence didn't know and passed on the information.

I quite like the idea of putting the bundle together. Might be a bit more expensive but it does become a one shop experience.

[Chris.Rowland]

I expect that enterprising people will be selling Pi kits, with all the bits you need, including a Pi, Keyboard, Mouse, Programmed SD card, PSU and all cables.

I don't see anything wrong in them making a profit out of that. It seems reasonable that they profit from their enterprise in providing a one stop shop for people who need it.

[Toby Stokes]

The whole idea of vendor exclusive software conjures up images of the kind of bloatware Windows machines always used to ship with. I'll be buying and flashing my own SD card so will make an assessment of anything they offer on the basis of whether I need it or not.

[tufty]

tritonium said:


@neftronics

"Supported by an exclusive bundle of software tools available to Farnell element14 customers only."


My guess would be the usual set of Windows-based crippleware, with an extra .h file defining the Pi constants.


I dont see the 'FREE' word in there - is this a way of leveraging extra cash from the buyer?


Probably.