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The thanked counter

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tom66:

--- Quote from: RoGeorge on February 20, 2022, 02:37:01 pm ---That is biggest pitfall, indeed.  The prices became very tempting, but learning FPGA, or using one in a hobby project, is far from easy.

Maybe software compilers able to generate HDL schematics would be the way to put FPGA in the hands of enthusiasts, but the FPGA manufacturers doesn't seem interested, they keep all closed source, and often their toolchains cost a fortune even without the high level syntheses translators from programming to HDL.

I bet a "Python FPGA" devboard would be very attractive, if that would be possible.

--- End quote ---

But this isn't really true.  Sure, Vivado is proprietary, but it is free for most devices that hobbyists would ever target (Spartan, Artix, Zynq, etc.)  I commercially develop FPGA designs and we use the standard edition of Vivado.  It includes most of the infrastructure needed to make complex designs, complete timing closure and device planning and integrate with software/Linux for the Zynq.   

Also, the Vivado software includes a schematic and device plan overview, that lets you see the elaborated HDL as an RTL netlist, as well as the synthesised and implemented netlists.  You can see the device plan to see how the compiler has placed logic and nets on the design and once you dive into this, you start to get a pretty good appreciation as to how FPGAs work and what common pitfalls there are.

If you want open source, then there's nextpnr and the IceStorm project which has a pretty complete package for Lattice and some Altera devices.   

In my opinion learning the basics of FPGA design isn't really hard (especially with Verilog, as VHDL is definitely more of a pain to understand), but there is a big step up from blinking an LED or making a little digital clock to completing an AXI-compliant master, for example.   It requires a completely different mindset to writing software, and a willingness to think out of the box when debugging issues.

Zero999:

--- Quote from: MrMobodies on February 20, 2022, 09:35:25 pm ---
--- Quote from: Zero999 on February 20, 2022, 10:41:52 am ---I hope MrMobodies doesn't mind me using his image as an example. I'll change it to my own, if he wants.
--- End quote ---
I don't mind.

Generally if I see something I find distracting or don't like I just use an element hider such as Adblock, Ublock or whatever to hide like counter class element below to stop it showing there:

--- Quote ---eevblog.com##.thankscount
--- End quote ---
I may not like the appearance of it sticking and being noticeable or maybe it is just me but as long as it doesn't interfere with the rest of the contents I'd just hide the above like I normally do.

Not everything is going to be perfect and I know you can't please everybody.

What I would add, why are they doing this? maybe I don't understand fully, are they trying to be helpful (or even too helpful) trying to please everyone and want to do something like promote this board to look more appeasing to others with an official answer or give it a professional appearance that maybe they think it might be lacking at the moment.

Either ways I am happy with the way it is so far and little things like that can be hidden if one finds it a distraction.

Joke: Dave go and fix that Keithley 2400 SMU.
I find that more entertaining to watch than this official answer and thank counter thing.

--- End quote ---
Not everyone uses Adblock. Many people prefer not to, because they want to support sites such as this. I know it's possible to enable adverts which aren't annoying, but most people don't bother. I don't think Dave would like it, if the thanked counter increased the use of adblock.

ebastler:

--- Quote from: richnormand on February 20, 2022, 10:37:54 pm ---I am sure we all noticed some posters that milk the system to burnish their image [...]

--- End quote ---

How would one do that? I have noticed some users who give thanks very (overly?) generously, but have not noticed anyone begging to receive thanks.

That being said, users apply the "say thanks" button in very different ways. It can mean anything from "this was valuable advice" to "good joke" or "I agree". I would not overstate its value. I preferred the prior state where one could look up the thank-you count in a user's profile, but it was not presented with every post.

Ice-Tea:

--- Quote from: ebastler on February 21, 2022, 11:17:31 am ---
--- Quote from: richnormand on February 20, 2022, 10:37:54 pm ---I am sure we all noticed some posters that milk the system to burnish their image [...]

--- End quote ---

How would one do that? I have noticed some users who give thanks very (overly?) generously, but have not noticed anyone begging to receive thanks.

That being said, users apply the "say thanks" button in very different ways. It can mean anything from "this was valuable advice" to "good joke" or "I agree". I would not overstate its value. I preferred the prior state where one could look up the thank-you count in a user's profile, but it was not presented with every post.

--- End quote ---

Essentialy: post pictures of cute kittens or whatever the electronics engineering equivalent is...

Zero999:
It's also abused, by treez/Faringdon, who thanks every post, even those telling him he's wasting their time. Fortunately many people see through this and don't bother with pointless posts/threads, even though they know their thanked counter would get a boost.

Whilst I do appreciate genuine thanks and I admit not being thanked (whether it's by a reply, or the button is a little off-putting), I'm not bothered about the number. In some ways a reply saying thanks, is better than the button, because it's more personal, although too many of them does clog the thread up.

Getting a high thanked to post count is easy, just only reply to users who use the thanks button, whether it's appropriate or not.

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