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I went to find the download link to reply to someone inquiring about Modbus RTU CRC and was quite surprised that Modbus.org has removed its published specifications/standards from their formerly open, freely accessed web page.
I thought maybe it was just a simple registration to get access, but the attempt to register on the Modbus.org site brought up the need for a billing address, so registration is clearly now a paid registration. I poked around to discover that Modbus.org has several different levels of membership, but cost of any membership level is not disclosed up front.
The term "open protocol" has been new-speaked in the past couple decades to mean "available for a price", as opposed to the former Modbus truly open, download-the-spec open. That's the path that Modbus's owners have chosen.
In 20 odd years of hanging around control.com, I have never been a fan of just pointing users who are attempting to implement Modbus to the spec/standard because implementing Modbus in the field is typically a case of using commercial devices and software that one presumes have some relatively high degree of functionality. The specs/standards are more aimed at a coder looking to code Modbus. And it worked to provide a link to the standards.
Admittedly, there are sites other than Modbus.org that have posted the various Modbus specs.
So I wonder, will the absence of formerly, freely accessed specs coupled with some (unknown) cost for Modbus membership limit the future implementation of Modbus?
I thought maybe it was just a simple registration to get access, but the attempt to register on the Modbus.org site brought up the need for a billing address, so registration is clearly now a paid registration. I poked around to discover that Modbus.org has several different levels of membership, but cost of any membership level is not disclosed up front.
The term "open protocol" has been new-speaked in the past couple decades to mean "available for a price", as opposed to the former Modbus truly open, download-the-spec open. That's the path that Modbus's owners have chosen.
In 20 odd years of hanging around control.com, I have never been a fan of just pointing users who are attempting to implement Modbus to the spec/standard because implementing Modbus in the field is typically a case of using commercial devices and software that one presumes have some relatively high degree of functionality. The specs/standards are more aimed at a coder looking to code Modbus. And it worked to provide a link to the standards.
Admittedly, there are sites other than Modbus.org that have posted the various Modbus specs.
So I wonder, will the absence of formerly, freely accessed specs coupled with some (unknown) cost for Modbus membership limit the future implementation of Modbus?
