Real GPS Software for Linux FOUND

Mxyzpltk · 10-02-2003, 04:23 PM

Anybody else run across this?
http://roadmap.saignon.net

Free maps, realtime mapping, trip planning, speech synthesis announcement of next turn... looks neat!

hijinks21 · 10-02-2003, 04:32 PM

look into gps drive.. same thing but better

I'm not sure about this app but its probably the same deal with gpsdrive and maps.

You have to download them first and then set them up yourself in order to use them.

Mxyzpltk · 10-02-2003, 06:26 PM

I have looked at GPSDrive and had intended to use it. This software looks interesting to me because instead of using bitmap images for maps, it uses vector data from the Census Bureau. As a result, it actually knows where you are in terms of street names and can announce upcoming turns, etc.

TwoCents · 10-10-2003, 10:06 AM

Roadmap would have been nice... if not for the next sentence from their site:
RoadMap is at an early stage of development. At this time there are no routing features implemented yet. The plan for the future is to implement some navigation features similar to those found in commercial street navigation systems. The main limit for implementing routing is the lack of navigation information in the US Census Bureau database (for example one-way street are not indicated). The US Census Bureau has clearly indicated that it does not plan to add these information in the future (the USCB does not need them).

Such a shame :-( The search continues...

hijinks21 · 10-10-2003, 10:36 AM

ya thats why companies pay a lot of money for good maps to use for their gps systems. Its a shame there's not a good free option out there, if there was you'd probably see some killer apps out there for both linux and windows.

Alanh · 10-10-2003, 10:09 PM

I think another problem with the Census Bureau maps may be the age. I don't know for sure, but I've seen a lot of posts on other forums that said the government data thats readily available was pretty old. That info may have been about the version before updates for the last census. If they haven't updated since the 2000 census, the data is already 3 years old and could be pretty obsolete already if there has been much new development or road work in an area. How useful they are to you may depend on how many roads have been added in the last few years and will be added in the future where you want to go.

I saw something recently about Navtech (think I got the name right), which is one of the biggest names in map data. I think a number of the navigation packages use them. They have people who spend most of their time driving around looking for new roads and addresses and checking for road changes so they can update their databases. I don't know how many, but you can imagine that it would take a fair number to cover even the large population centers around the country, so its going to cost. If you need current data, I think there isn't any free lunch.

ciagon · 10-11-2003, 07:14 AM

I have done a lot of work with the US Census Tiger Database, and being out of date is not its biggest problem. It does not contain any info on traffic direction, legal turns, speed, etc. For city driving it totally sucks, but it can still be quite usefull for road trips.

I actually wrote my own map software using the tiger database because I did not care for the windows apps much. Their road data and driving directions were great, but it was never easy to do all the things I wanted using my 10-key as input.

http://thomashargrove.com/

Mxyzpltk · 10-11-2003, 09:58 AM

> I think another problem with the Census Bureau maps may be the age... How useful they are to you may depend on how many roads have been added in the last few years and will be added in the future where you want to go.

I haven't played with the CB maps yet myself, but I have noted that Navtech maps don't even know what county Knoxville TN is in.

8-P

> I actually wrote my own map software using the tiger database because I did not care for the windows apps much.

That looks pretty nifty. I especially like the way you set it up to return raw pixel data. I'm looking forward to experimenting with your software. Thanks!

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