bumblefish
Active member
Does anyone know if any of the PC based chart plotter programs work with linux?
Linux Chart Plotter Software
- Thread starter bumblefish
- Start date
Birdseye
Well-known member
Isnt there software that allows you to run any windows program under Linux? Sure I've read about it somewhere.
aluijten
New member
Yes there is it's called WINE (acromym for Wine Is Not an Emulator). It's depends however on quite a few MS-Windows DLL's and other stuff that is copyrighted. So it doesn't adhere to the true sense of open source software (Having a PC without any software with paid licenses).
I would like to see chart plotter software under Linux myself, but I haven't heard of it myself
Arno
I would like to see chart plotter software under Linux myself, but I haven't heard of it myself
Arno
stevebirch2002
New member
Bite the bullet and use Windows based software with Windows. Why re-invent the wheel. If you must insist on using Linux then either start writing your own Linux based chart software with a possible ten users or use WINDOWS. I am not a Windows lover but the software is there and works..... Dont take offence, just my thoughts.....
bumblefish
Active member
I have difficulty not agreeing with your sentiments, it is just that I have a desire to run a Linux based system with all the 'advantages' that it might give me and would like to use a standard chart plotter package. I guess I ought to have a go with wine, vmware and crossover both involve expenses that I do not consider worthwhile unless they are sure to work. I will play around, so to speak, and let you know.
LadyStardust
Member
A quick search at linux org produced a few related developments http://www.linux.org/perl-bin/search_db?q=gps&qid=2&spp=100
I for one would love to have a linux chartplotter. I'm currently building a dedicated pc for my boat based around a 12v mini itx, it will dual boot just so i can run chart plotting and wefax programs under windows, but ultimatley i would prefer to use linux, it's more reliable in my experience, cheaper, more versatile, that's if you can write scripts and more in the spirit of sailing I think, i.e. it's unrestricted by laws and supported by a loving community.
Just my thoughts and I don't want to start a microsoft/linux flame here.
Paul C, Lady Stardust, Baba 30, Liverpool UK
I for one would love to have a linux chartplotter. I'm currently building a dedicated pc for my boat based around a 12v mini itx, it will dual boot just so i can run chart plotting and wefax programs under windows, but ultimatley i would prefer to use linux, it's more reliable in my experience, cheaper, more versatile, that's if you can write scripts and more in the spirit of sailing I think, i.e. it's unrestricted by laws and supported by a loving community.
Just my thoughts and I don't want to start a microsoft/linux flame here.
Paul C, Lady Stardust, Baba 30, Liverpool UK
henkm
New member
Just links, have no experience with this software:
http://www.gpsdrive.cc/
http://www1.maraudingpirates.org:8080/navigatrix/
http://viking.sourceforge.net/
http://hugo.dementia.org/
or better still: search for the word 'GPS' in 'projects' on: http://freshmeat.net/
henk
http://www.gpsdrive.cc/
http://www1.maraudingpirates.org:8080/navigatrix/
http://viking.sourceforge.net/
http://hugo.dementia.org/
or better still: search for the word 'GPS' in 'projects' on: http://freshmeat.net/
henk
stevebirch2002
New member
I understand your problem. I am a PC professional (Hardware) and have been for nearly 20 years. I have a couple of customers that swear by LINUX but suffer for their choice. What started as a hobby for me ended up as a job so a PC is now an item of work so I need it to work when I turn on and not have to spend hours getting a sub-standard program to mabye work 50% of the time. I now use the PC soley as a tool. Again this is all IMHO
denhams
New member
Birdseye
Well-known member
" spend hours getting a sub-standard program to mabye work 50% of the time. "
Presumably you are referring to Linux. I thought it was fairly reliable, which is why I was thinking of having a go on my new PC. Is it not?
Presumably you are referring to Linux. I thought it was fairly reliable, which is why I was thinking of having a go on my new PC. Is it not?
steverow
New member
I totally agree with your sentiments regarding plotting on Linux, however, I fear unless you are willing to devote hundreds, maybe thousands of hours to developing something yourself then the results may not be outstanding.
There is nothing wrong with Linux, it's now over the years, developed into a highly stable platform. The problem is with the sometimes rather flaky software that is written for it by students, schoolboys, and other assorted geeks.
There is very little commercial involvement, and so programs are more often than not a labour of love, written by people and then released on to an unsuspecting world full of holes and bugs.
The other drawback is that most of the navigation software written in opensource
is usually for land based navigation, which can be substantially different in operation from marine software. For instance I dont personally know of any linux navigator that runs an autopilot. (although I'm sure there must be something out there that I havent yet discovered.)
Also much of it is not designed to be "mission critical" which is exactly what is required for marine applications.
Personally I would say if you just want to play and you have the hours to spend,
then go for it but dont rely on it for your primary plotter.
If you want to just do chartplotting for zero cost, then get Seaclear for Windows.
Superb program, well tried and tested, does everything you really need, and as long as you are prepared to spend a few hours scanning your own, charts in (An A3 scanner (Mustek about £85)really helps)) then the labour overhead is much much lower than developing or hacking something for linux.
Steve.
There is nothing wrong with Linux, it's now over the years, developed into a highly stable platform. The problem is with the sometimes rather flaky software that is written for it by students, schoolboys, and other assorted geeks.
There is very little commercial involvement, and so programs are more often than not a labour of love, written by people and then released on to an unsuspecting world full of holes and bugs.
The other drawback is that most of the navigation software written in opensource
is usually for land based navigation, which can be substantially different in operation from marine software. For instance I dont personally know of any linux navigator that runs an autopilot. (although I'm sure there must be something out there that I havent yet discovered.)
Also much of it is not designed to be "mission critical" which is exactly what is required for marine applications.
Personally I would say if you just want to play and you have the hours to spend,
then go for it but dont rely on it for your primary plotter.
If you want to just do chartplotting for zero cost, then get Seaclear for Windows.
Superb program, well tried and tested, does everything you really need, and as long as you are prepared to spend a few hours scanning your own, charts in (An A3 scanner (Mustek about £85)really helps)) then the labour overhead is much much lower than developing or hacking something for linux.
Steve.
Aeolus_IV
New member
As somebody who's played with Linux since before version 1 - I can say that it is basically very stable (I work in IT on the Unix OS side of things, and have done for longer than seems possible). However, there is a key point to bear in mind when planning on using Linux for anything: age of the hardware. Or put another way: if you expect Linux to work faultlessly with the latest and greatest hardware, or with "Joe Bloggs" extra special and unique hardware gizmo then you'll be dissatisfied. You have to bear in mind that its takes time for the willing few to write and debug the drivers for the new hardware, so stick to the tried and tested hardware.
I'm writing this on a PC that is possibly 4 or 5 years old, running a vanilla installation of Fedora Core 3 (the pulic, free version of RedHats Linux) - all of the hardware was spotted first time, and everything configured it self. Installation of it could not have been easier.
I don't expect this machine to be anything less than totally reliable. In terms of speed, its not a Giga-Hz CPU only 550MHz P3. But it operates faster than I think, and so it is quick enough (and it was free!) so I'm not complaining.
When it comes to Laptops running Linux, then I've found that the situation is the same - but of course there are less people sorting out laptop problems for Linux, so they take longer to stabalise.
Regards, Jeff.
I'm writing this on a PC that is possibly 4 or 5 years old, running a vanilla installation of Fedora Core 3 (the pulic, free version of RedHats Linux) - all of the hardware was spotted first time, and everything configured it self. Installation of it could not have been easier.
I don't expect this machine to be anything less than totally reliable. In terms of speed, its not a Giga-Hz CPU only 550MHz P3. But it operates faster than I think, and so it is quick enough (and it was free!) so I'm not complaining.
When it comes to Laptops running Linux, then I've found that the situation is the same - but of course there are less people sorting out laptop problems for Linux, so they take longer to stabalise.
Regards, Jeff.
Phoenix of Hamble
Active member
Bumblefish,
It'll be very interesting to hear how you get on..... my suspiscion is that most plotting software is very graphics intensive, so will depend heavily on Windows graphics software/extensions, so will be very difficult to run under WINE..... VMware won't run the app under Linux, just let you switch between the two O/S's quickly
It'll be very interesting to hear how you get on..... my suspiscion is that most plotting software is very graphics intensive, so will depend heavily on Windows graphics software/extensions, so will be very difficult to run under WINE..... VMware won't run the app under Linux, just let you switch between the two O/S's quickly
Mariner
New member
We are in the final stages of beta testing a marine navigation program written from the ground up to run on Linux.
To keep up to date with progress feel free to join our software mailing list at http://www.marinercomputers.co.uk/
We hope to have a public release in the next few weeks.
To keep up to date with progress feel free to join our software mailing list at http://www.marinercomputers.co.uk/
We hope to have a public release in the next few weeks.