[OSM-newbies] openmoko freerunner for both maps and recording tracks?

[David Ebling]

Are you aware that you can display OSM maps on certain Garmin GPS units? Perhaps this would be a better solution for someone like you or I, who find the details of Linux etc to be rather propeller-headed!

I love the idea of the Openmoko Freerunner, but think it just isn't ready for semi-nerds like me. Fully qualified nerds only for now! ;-)

On a tangent, I believe this is what is keeping Linux (and many OSM applications for that matter) out of the mainstream - the failure to recognise that even people very comfortable typing things into a command prompt are baffled when the instructions provided by experts assume a lot of prior knowledge.

Regards,

Dave
--- On Mon, 8/9/08, herve.openstreetmap at ouvaton.org <herve.openstreetmap at ouvaton.org> wrote:

> From: herve.openstreetmap at ouvaton.org <herve.openstreetmap at ouvaton.org>
> Subject: [OSM-newbies] openmoko freerunner for both maps and recording tracks?
> To: newbies at openstreetmap.org
> Date: Monday, 8 September, 2008, 3:33 PM
> Hello,
> 
> I'm a real newbie, with up to now only a vague
> experience in digital maps
> (used a Route66 CD on a macintosh till when they stopped
> selling updates),
> an even more vague exp. in GPS devices (only used
> other's) and 10 mn of
> (happily) experiencing TangoGPS on a linux laptop.
> 
> I consider buying an Openmoko Freerunner device, in the
> idea that it would
> provide both an usable "ordinary GPS" function
> (with OSM maps preloaded)
> and a way to record datapaths occasionally during travels
> or week-ends in
> my neighborhood to update OSM.
> 
> Let's add that I consider the Freerunner mainly because
> of its open source
> software, but I am not a computer beef (for instance, using
> my 1-month-old
> linux laptop is *still* hard as soon as it comes to
> install/updates).
> 
> Knowing this, what would you advise re. the freerunner:
> 
> - is it a bad idea, should I buy another device instead
> (why? simpler?
> easier? What are the most used devices here btw?)
> 
> - is it the right HW but should I consider other SW?
> (what's simpler?)
> 
> - should I start with an ordinary GPS (with recording
> capablity) and leave
> the actual using of OSM maps for later (or just on the
> laptop)?
> 
> BTW, I tried, but didn't find, a way to search the
> maillist existing
> database: I opened a couple of months' archives in the
> web interface but
> didn't really manage to scan the whole archive: did I
> miss something?
> 
> Should my question be sent to the normal "talk"
> archive instead?
> 
> TIA!
> Hervé Sainct
> 
> 
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