[aprssig] APRSPoint

[Mark A. Lewis]

Yes, I have run it on Windows successfully, using the good documentation
that comes with Xastir.

>The old appliance operator vs. home-built discussion?

To some degree. Some things I don't mind having to tinker with to get
working, others I want to just work. I took a while the other day to get
Xastir running on Windows with cygwin, it was a good learning
experience, and Xastir does have a lot of very powerful features, and I
have been debating using it as a i-gate and using the snapshot feature
to generate a static map of stations heard. It has it's place in my
shack, just not as my mobile/day to day APRS application.

>Pick something that makes sense to you, whether that's the map data,
the APRS client, or the OS.

Very wise words! Use what you are comfortable with, it will serve you
much better.

What I would like to see, and it may already exist, is some better
documentation on how to get the maps you want into Xastir, where to get
the needed files, that sort of thing. I confess, that I have not read
everything included in the documentation, so it may very well be there.

Who knows, after some more tinkering, I may grow to like Xastir more.
Stranger things have happened.


 

-----Original Message-----
From: aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org
[mailto:aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org] On Behalf Of Curt, WE7U
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 12:02 PM
To: TAPR APRS Mailing List
Subject: RE: [aprssig] APRSPoint

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!"

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