[talk-au] Best linux mapping/routing setup

[John Smith]

--- On Tue, 21/7/09, Ross Scanlon <info at 4x4falcon.com> wrote:

> That's one of the problems with the current deb
> packages.  Looks like I'm going to have to get a 701
> and try it out to see what these 89 packages are.

I installed Lenny Debian, so getting a 701 probably won't help in that respect, apart from postgres it downloaded the openjava JRE even though I already had the sun jre installed, JOSM doesn't work at all with the open JRE that openoffice pulled down.

In any case I'll email you the list off packages off list.

> There are also capabilities which are builtin which really
> have no use to 95% of users eg, friendsd, kismet.  I'd
> be happy to drop those and have done so in my own
> system.  Really the program needs to be more
> modularised so that only those parts required by the user
> are added.

That does seem a tad strange, since anyone using debian can easily install kismet and what not if they want it.

> The deb packages also try to install all osm icons whereas
> we do not need the Japanese icons other than in Japan, and
> now many people change their icon style once setup.  It
> should only install a basic package and then the user can
> install others if they want to.

That kind of thinking goes for OSM stuff in general, things like the validation plugin for example, and keepright checks.

> I've got 4.1Gb total used out of 16Gb.  I know the 701
> only has 4Gb but my install includes wine with Champainge

The 701SD comes in an 8G model too, I am some what paranoid when it comes to putting sensitive info on devices and computers so I end up encrypting most of it most of the time, in this case the OS is on an unencrypted partition and /home is encrypted.

> Flight Planner 500Mb and about 2Gb of music.  So there
> should be more than enough room to install on a small
> machine.

I'm concerned about the use of pgsql/postgis as the database backend, since all of Australia/NZ bbox is about 1.6G of data normally, where as navit ends up using a 50M file for the same thing.

> I've been seriously considering branching of from the
> current development and making a lighter package but it all
> comes down to available time.

Know the feeling.

> I know the others like navit are easy to install etc but
> can you use a digital topo map with them?
> What happens when you run out of osm coverage?

I haven't tested it, but it seems to have GPX logging as an option, the UI isn't the best so it's a bit quirky.

> Also pgsql is very low in overhead and no different to
> mysql and was selected because it was the database engine
> used by osm.

That's fine if you have multiple users accessing a database, but I don't think it's a sensible idea when it comes to single user satnav type systems. I can see how this might have seemed like a good idea at some point, but it's really going to dog it since you have to be some what equipped in running and maintaining a full relational database.