TINI Disappointments
Spent some time over the weekend on an Ifos master control program targeting TINI. It’s a Java app wrapped around a tiny [sic] built-in web server and works great so far.
Well, I should qualify that. It works great until I run it on the TINI. Being Java (supposably1 cross-platform), the program can be developed and tested on my Mac, where it’s spiffy and quick. On TINI, however, there are two major issues:
- TINI supports only a subset of the Java 1.1.8 distribution. It’s a large subset, but it’s still a subset.
- TINI is much much much slower than I expected.
I bought a TINI development kit way back in 2006, and since I had one, thought I’d turn it into a micro-server for Ifos. Now that I’m finally getting around to it, though, it seems clear there are better alternatives. A simple router running OpenWRT would certainly be cheaper (~$30 vs. ~$100) and come with a lot more memory. Java would still be available, if I wanted to continue down that road, or I could choose from several other languages.
At this point, I’m thinking the best option will be OpenWRT plus something like ser2net and Haserl. Relative to TINI, the community is extensive, the hardware is cheap and powerful, and the software options are flexible.
One more little detour, but it’s all about the journey, right?