[dozzie]

Protocol cannot be open source. It can have a full specification published. A protocol does not have a source code, it's something that its implementation can have.

Also, what the heck does it do? Neither README nor title says anything about that. The closest thing to such description is mentioning that it "supports multimedia", whatever that means.

[dang]

You've violated the guidelines for Show HNs: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html. The site guidelines too: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

Please don't go into attack mode here. The last thing someone needs when they take the risk of sharing their work on a large public forum is someone pettily berating them and then hounding them when they try to reply. If you were genuinely interested in getting information or providing feedback, there are lots of ways to do it that don't come across as just wanting to pound something.

Edit: it looks like we've already had to warn you about not being a bully on Hacker News. Moreover, it looks like you've been posting like this a lot. This is something we ban accounts for if people keep doing it, so please take the spirit of this site to heart and treat your fellow community members better from now on.

[dozzie]

> Please don't go into attack mode here. [...]

> Edit: it looks like we've already had to warn you about not being a bully on Hacker News. Moreover, it looks like you've been posting like this a lot.

OK then, please be more specific here. You're being so generic that I can't tell what exactly is wrong with my posts (apart from being disliked) and what should I change to keep me from being banned. The only thing I can think of is to stay away from any commenting at all. If you criticise from your high horse of being a moderator and wielding the power to ban people, at least be constructive in doing so.

[gioscarab]

Ciao dozzie, I have omitted "implementation" from the title because I thought that was obvious enough. It seems not.

The project proposes both an independent research in defining a specification, and also an open-source implementation based on that specification.

If you want to know what it does, read the specifications or at least the first sentences of the README :)

"PJON® (Padded Jittering Operative Network) is an Arduino compatible, multi-master, multi-media network protocol. It proposes a Standard, it is designed as a framework and implements a totally software emulated network protocol stack that can be easily cross-compiled on many architectures like ATtiny, ATmega, ESP8266, ESP32, STM32, Teensy, Raspberry Pi, Linux, Windows x86 and Apple machines. It is a valid tool to quickly and comprehensibly build a network of devices. Visit wiki and documentation to know more about the PJON Standard."

[plainOldText]

I think the OP’s critique of your README being vague is fair. Although judging from the downvotes, he comes across a little harsh.

Your README is needlessly abstract. It’s tantamount to saying you’ve invented a new wheel.

Well, wheels have all sorts of specifications, they're made of various materials, can have different weights, etc. They also have all sorts of use cases. From plastic wheels used in toys, rubber wheels used in cars, all the way to various wheels used for the construction of a rocket.

Although conceptually the wheel is an object that allows for easy rotation, you wouldn't use a plastic toy wheel for the construction, say of an automobile, would you? Also, not all wheels are used as rotary devices. Some can be used for just support.

Going back to your network protocol. What does this protocol allow one to do? What can it be used for? Be specific!

[gioscarab]

PJON is a general purpose "wheel" designed to work on a "charriot" (ATtiny85) as well as on a "formula 1" (real time operative system like linux, winx86, macosx). It has an "all weather tire" able to run on "mud", "tarmac" and "sand" (it operates layer 2 or the data-link agnostically).

Probably for this reason the README seems too general and not specific. The protocol is made NOT to be specific and its implementation is done to be executed (the same codebase) everywhere being 100% software "defined" or "emulated".

see: https://www.pjon.org/why.php

[dozzie]

> Ciao dozzie, I have omitted "implementation" from the title because I thought that was obvious enough. It seems not.

Keep the proper terminology. If you omit words left and right, it becomes incomprehensible garbage.

> If you want to know what it does, read the specifications

The whole point of README is to say what it does so I don't need to read specification that will be useless to me.

> or at least the first sentences of the README :)

I read it. The wall of words you cited says nothing about what it does and what purpose it serves.

[gioscarab]

"... is an Arduino compatible, multi-master, multi-media network protocol. It proposes a Standard, it is designed as a framework and implements a totally software emulated network protocol stack that can be easily cross-compiled on many architectures like ATtiny, ATmega, ESP8266, ESP32, STM32, Teensy, Raspberry Pi, Linux. It is a valid tool to quickly and comprehensibly build a network of devices". If this is a wall of words that says nothing about what the project is for, we are not from the same universe. And also, I don't think an omitted word in a title that must be short will make all the project an incomprehensible garbage, considering the amount of time and effort has been invested in docs and specs.

[detaro]

Immediately after the blurb is a section with key properties/selling points, which among other things explains the "multi-media" part. The wording of the description and readme isn't perfect (I suspect the author is not a native english speaker?), but it does contain the details necessary.

[gioscarab]

Ciao Detaro, thank you for your comment. Could you please point out the incosistencies you have found? I would be happy to fix that, yes I am not a native english speaker sadly :(

[tomjakubowski]

Sheesh, you are being way too harsh.

But I too was confused by what this PJON thing was supposed to do, until I looked up i2c, because of this line early in the README: "It was originally developed as an open-source alternative to i2c and 1-Wire"

"The Inter-integrated Circuit (I2C) Protocol is a protocol intended to allow multiple “slave” digital integrated circuits (“chips”) to communicate with one or more “master” chips. Like the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), it is only intended for short distance communications within a single device. Like Asynchronous Serial Interfaces (such as RS-232 or UARTs), it only requires two signal wires to exchange information."

So it's a very low level, _literal_ wire protocol, I guess. I don't know much about hardware.

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/i2c https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/i2c#protocol

[kahlonel]

I understood what the project is about as soon as I looked at the first para of README. I guess it takes some patience and some topic related knowledge to get the most of READMEs. You can't really expect the software authors to explain everything in a README, like their audience are 12 year olds.

[gioscarab]

multi-media means that the PJON network protocol implementation operates on a wide range of different physical layers and media.

[dozzie]

That's a big surprise, I thoguht it's about sending audio and video somehow.

[gioscarab]

Medium or media does not necessarily refer to an mp3 or a youtube video. See the original meaning of medium.

[dozzie]

Of course it doesn't need to be audio nor video. It doesn't change the fact that you used a term that has more than one meaning without providing any context in which to interpret it. If somebody misreads it, then the problem is with your prose, not with the reader.

[gioscarab]

Which word would you suggest to use instead of "multi-media" to refer to this characteristic?

[mendesgeo]

Multi-physical layer communication protocol also could be the best way to describe it in one word.

[dnautics]

Multi platform or "multiple media" are probably better terms. Sorry, english tech idioms are hard.

[gioscarab]

Thank you for your support dnautics :)

[genericacct]

media-agnostic?