Re: USB to serial converters
"all I had to do to make my serial code work we tell it to open /dev/ttyUSB0 instead of /dev/ttyS0"
And the beauty of Linux is that if you have a bluetooth serial adaptor, you can use that as something similar to "/dev/rfcomm0" and the code STILL works [I've used 'avrdude' over bluetooth this way].
Try doing THAT on a Windows system, where every device type seems to require it's own "special API". whereas, on POSIX systems (Linux, BSD, even OSX) "everything is a file". makes it easier to support new types of devices from a 'user application' standpoint.
Serial I/O on windows is *PAINFUL* to code. I did that back in the late 90s for a customer project. Much easier in the POSIX world. And let's not get started on the 'no generic driver' problem in windows, where plugging in an inexpensive USB serial device "just works" in Linux (whenever it supports a standard protocol or uses a common chip set). FYI in some cases it might be something like '/dev/ttyACM0' rather than '/dev/ttyUSB0' but you just need to use the right command (like lsusb) to figure out what device was created, and you're good to go (assuming your application isn't already finding them for you).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
