[OSM-newbies] Which Operating System

Nick Allen nick_allen at btinternet.com
Mon Mar 16 15:45:20 GMT 2009


Hi,

I've been involved with OSM for about a year, and with Linux for just a 
bit longer than this.

I currently dual boot & mainly use a EEE 1000 computer running windows 
XP, and also run EEEbuntu. Both operating systems have their pro's & 
cons, but I can quite happily use either of them for OSM work. JOSM & 
Potlatch both work well on either operating system. I've found ways of 
downloading tracks from my GPS using either system (GPSBabel works on 
both & converts the track to GPX quite happily).

Personally I could have done away with Windows some time ago except I 
need access to two bits of software for my other hobbies, and I can't 
make them run on wine or find alternatives in Linux. But, Windows was 
easy to set up & use for OSM for the majority of the programmes I've tried.

For me, the answer is dual booting:
Windows XP in a 7.5GB partition (could do with being about 10GB really),
Ubuntu on 6GB, &
remainder as a shared drive formatted for windows that both Windows & 
Ubuntu/Linux can read (If you place the Java programmes such as JOSM 
here, you can use them from either operating system).

Feel free to get back in touch if I can offer any more advice, but I am 
not an expert & can only tell you about what worked for me.

Regards

Nick (Tallguy)

henning at kaagmortensen.de wrote:
> I have got the impression, that a lot on the OMS Scene seems to be Linux based. 
>
> As I can choose to invest in either windows or Linux, I would like to know which of those two OS is most appropriate to with respect to OSM (and Routing). Any recommendations here? 
>
> Henning
>
>
>   





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