[aprssig] APRSPoint

[Curt, WE7U]

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004, Mark A. Lewis wrote:

> Belive me, this not an anti Linux thing. It is a usablility thing.

It can't be an anti-Linux thing, as Xastir runs on darn near
everything these days.  ;-)

It must use an emulator on Windows, but we do still run there, and
run well.  That sentence is intended to placate those who object to
the "runs on Windows" phrase.  You know who you are!


> I never said that Xastir was to blame for the lack of accuracy. It
> really does not matter what is to blame, it's still there.

Depends on your choice of base maps.  That's all I'm saying.  If you
match Xastir with Tiger data, then yea, you have to know what you're
getting into.  Same for any other source of map data:  If you don't
know anything about the data accuracy, you might be better off not
using it.  Pick something that makes sense to you, whether that's
the map data, the APRS client, or the OS.


> answer is I do not want to have to beat software into submission, find a
> map file I like, hope it covers the area I like, go talk to the county
> to see if they have a better shapefile. Just isn't worth it when I can
> do all of this AND trip planning with MapPoint and APRSPoint with out
> needing Excedrin or wade through buracracy to do the legwork someone
> else has already done.

The old appliance operator vs. home-built discussion?

Xastir gives you lots of choices in map sources.  To use that power
effectively you have to learn about the sources and which ones are
good for what.  No argument about that.  A question or two to the
Xastir mailing list will usually yield the proper sources of maps
for most people.  It's not a difficult search.  Of course there's
more available for the U.S. and Canada than other countries, but you
can always snag UI-View/WinAPRS/APRSdos/PocketAPRS maps and use them
as well.


> If you like Xastir, great, more power to you. But, like most Linux
> software, you have to WANT to tinker with it to get it to do what you
> want. Which, in this case, is not what I want. So, I CHOOSE not to use
> it. Just like you CHOOSE to use Xastir. No reason to dig in and defend
> your choice.

It's not defending the choice that I'm concerned about, it's
accuracy of information.  I'm an engineer, it's how I think about
things.  Representing the facts correctly is much more important to
me than being popular.  Not that I'm correct any more than anyone
else, but I try.  I'm certainly not popular, and sometimes I revel
in that.  Is that weird?  ;-)

Speaking of popularity for a second though, we're neck-and-neck now
for #3 most popular APRS client, which is pretty good for an
application that isn't a native Windows app.  #1/#2 and the co-#3
application are all Windows native apps.


> We should be thankful we have choices.

Yea!  Especially in operating systems...  ;-)

--
Curt, WE7U			         http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
"Lotto:    A tax on people who are bad at math." -- unknown
"Windows:  Microsoft's tax on computer illiterates." -- WE7U
"The world DOES revolve around me:  I picked the coordinate system!"