On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 14:09:57 GMT, "BillP" wrote:

Triggered by the above remark I wonder why no company has yet written a
decent navigation package running on Linux.

Because once they made three sales to people who actually use Linux on their
boat, they'd have 100% of the potential market...

Make it four. I would gladly drop WIndows on any machine that didn't
need it for a particular app.

Mandrake Linux is the slickest and most troublefree installation I
have ever tried. You don't have to be a geek to install it. Indeed it
practically installs itself.

So, for a boat computer, what do I need.

A word processor for the log--Xemacs is fine

A program to monitor the serial ports and log NMEA inputs and
time-stamp them into a text file, that can be pasted into the log
on xemacs.

A nav-chart program that uses free vector charts.

If I take it ashore to a modem connection, I use Windoze because I
can run PMMail, a converted OS2 program that lets me check headeers
on the POP3 server, and delete spam before I download messages. I
haven't seen a linux app that works that way.

All easy except the last two.



I have no financial interest, etc etc.


Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC


We have achieved faith-based science,
faith-based economics, faith-based law
enforcement, and faith-based missile
defense.
What's next? Faith-based air traffic control?

On 2004-08-27 16:31:47 +1000, "Meindert Sprang"
said:

"NIFFOCBT" wrote in message
...
Can you integrate several Sensors?.

Of course he can; with our multiplexers :-)

The type of plotter they use can sink and swim someone if
it is not done right. If a plotter is not set up correctly or fails at a
crucial moment then whats the use. You dont use a plotter on a nice
sunny
day. You use it when you are lost, tired, or in bad weather.


Triggered by the above remark I wonder why no company has yet written a
decent navigation package running on Linux.
I know this will stir up something, but I have been on a ship, developing
software to control a KVM switch that knitted 12 LCD's and 10 computers
together. All computers were running XP (!) except the one I installed for
controlling the KVM switch. This one ran linux and did the routing to four
selectable internet connections as well. Many of these computers had the
occasional crash, but the only one that kept on running was the Linux box.

Meindert
www.shipmodul.com

Well at the risk of stiring things up more...

We allready have a major unix based desktop that has very good
reliability and lots of applications software. It's called MacOS X. BSD
based it is really very good and very reliable. The major problem with
charting software for me is that all the packages I've looked at for
the Mac have support for BSB charts. This is great for NA and Europe
but utterly useless for Australia. ARCS and S57 are the way to go for
the future as this is where 'official' data will come from (hydro
offices).

Before anyone tries to convince me that there are BSB formated charts
for Australia I suggest you really look at the issue. There are none
that are usefull. This has been confirmed through several charting
software developers. Charting software is useless without charts!

The major commercial packages that support C-Map are a possibility as
both C-Map and Navonics have data sets that cover Australia. Just my 2
cents worth.

--
Regards,
John Proctor VK3JP, VKV6789
S/V Chagall

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 21:39:39 GMT, John Proctor
wrote:

The major problem with
charting software for me is that all the packages I've looked at for
the Mac have support for BSB charts. This is great for NA and Europe
but utterly useless for Australia. ARCS and S57 are the way to go for
the future as this is where 'official' data will come from (hydro
offices).

Before anyone tries to convince me that there are BSB formated charts
for Australia I suggest you really look at the issue. There are none
that are usefull. This has been confirmed through several charting
software developers. Charting software is useless without charts!

Concur, though I'd like a package that supports BSB as well as ARCS
and S57 ENCs. The next PC chart software I buy will support those
formats, period. The next chartplotter I buy will allow me to upload
my ARCS and S57s instead of buying proprietary chips, period. But I'm
not holding my breath...
__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at world wide wiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/

"Meindert Sprang" wrote in message
...
Triggered by the above remark I wonder why no company has yet written a
decent navigation package running on Linux.

http://freshmeat.net/projects/hugo/

Not being a linux user I cannot comment on whether decent or not.

"saltair" wrote in message
news:l9wYc.262306$J06.191199@pd7tw2no...

"Meindert Sprang" wrote in message
...
Triggered by the above remark I wonder why no company has yet written a
decent navigation package running on Linux.

http://freshmeat.net/projects/hugo/

Not being a linux user I cannot comment on whether decent or not.

As far as I know, this software only shows where you are. No
routes/waypoints. No autopilot control.

Meindert

Normally I would not get into the middle of a thread such as this, but
I feel the need to set something straight:

I am not . He is a satisfied customer of ours,
just as he says. In fact, we have never met and we live on opposite
ends of the country. If you were to google his name you would find
that he's contributed quite a bit to the Internet's boating
communities.

I will not attempt to correct the rest of the misinformation in this
thread as I'm confident that time will take care of that...

Thanks for listening,
Brad Christian
Rose Point Navigation Systems, LLC
http://rosepointnav.com/

You got to be kidding me!!
Remove NOJUNK from Email for responses via email.

On 27 Aug 2004 10:10:39 -0700, wrote:

Normally I would not get into the middle of a thread such as this, but
I feel the need to set something straight:

I am not . He is a satisfied customer of ours,
just as he says. In fact, we have never met and we live on opposite
ends of the country. If you were to google his name you would find
that he's contributed quite a bit to the Internet's boating
communities.

I will not attempt to correct the rest of the misinformation in this
thread as I'm confident that time will take care of that...

OK. I am a potential user but I have no info. Have you sent a dist
copy to Practical Sailor?

So far I have seen no information, mis or other. With the best will in
the world, you are not the one to clear up anything. I am sure the
program is intuitive to you if you designed it.

An unsolicited recommendation from someone who sends through an
anonymizer doesn't carry a huge amount of weight, as I am sure you can
see. How could we "google his name" if he hides it?



Thanks for listening,
Brad Christian
Rose Point Navigation Systems, LLC
http://rosepointnav.com/

Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC


We have achieved faith-based science,
faith-based economics, faith-based law
enforcement, and faith-based missile
defense.
What's next? Faith-based air traffic control?

I am not . He is a satisfied customer of ours,
just as he says. In fact, we have never met and we live on opposite
ends of the country. If you were to google his name you would find
that he's contributed quite a bit to the Internet's boating
communities.


OK Brad...so he's your uncle...

No one makes multiple postings about how wonderful a new, version 1.0
application is. No one.

Why don't you come out with a Linux version like the rest of the people in
this thread want?

"BillP" wrote in message news:wv_Xc.3410$Rk.2365@trndny03...
Why don't you come out with a Linux version like the rest of the people in
this thread want?

Many people buy a dedicated chartplotter just because a windows based system
is too risky for them. That's another group of potential customers for a
linux package. One could even sell it pre-installed on a nice small 12V
computer, with the entire thing on a flash disk (solid state). This would
still allow you to run other apps as well.
By nature, windows is very unsuitable to be installed on a flash disk
because is writes so many temporary files on many places. This will wear out
a flash disk very soon. Linux on the other hand, is very well organized with
all temporary files on one specific place. Allocate a ramdisk for that and
your linux system will run for ages on a flash disk.

Meindert