X-IMail-SPAM-Connection Re: [Xastir] Feature idea for Xastir

[Brad Douglas]

On Thu, 2007-10-04 at 16:49 -0500, Jason Winningham wrote:
> On Oct 4, 2007, at 2:50 PM, Stephen - K1LNX wrote:
> 
> > Maps, maps and more maps.
> 
> Ye gods, xastir already supports hundreds of formats.  If there's an  
> area of xastir lacking, that ain't it. (:

I guess I need to get back to making those tutorials.  I've been getting
sidetracked with other projects (GRASS development). :(

> > We need the ability to use Google maps
> 
> Licensing issues could problematic, but I think someone is already  
> keeping an eye on that.

Google does not have a compatible license, although they aren't exactly
enforcing it, either.  I avoid Google imagery at all costs for a variety
of reasons.  Licensing just happens to be near the top of the list.

> I suspect something more like our own internet map server (or set of  
> servers) could be useful, so that the free map data that's available  
> could be stored in such a way it could be displayed nicely and  
> consistently.  An added bonus to this method would be that those of  
> us who operate mobile/internet-less could duplicate the mapserver  
> with our personal dataset.

I've considered doing this.  I have capable web hosting, but have lacked
the time to put mapserver up.  This would also most likely include a
fork() of OSM that enforces data integrity.

> > True cross-platform compatibility. Should it be developed in Python  
> > or Java?

Java: Write Once; Test everywhere.

I'd prefer to see wxPython on the GUI.  I was initially very skeptical,
but I've been quite impressed with usability and interface speed.

> I'd say neither, as scripting/interpreted languages (Python) don't  
> always scale well (there's a _lot_ of code in xastir).  Python  
> doesn't appeal to me for another reason: minor version differences  
> are incompatible with each other (ImageMagick, anyone?).  I've got a  
> reasonably complex unix enterprise configuration, and python is a  
> serious pain. Java seems to be a pig, performance-wise.

There's no need to rewrite the core of Xastir except where relating to
GUI.  Tk/Tcl/*Magick is the bane of Xastir.

> I'd like to see xastir remain fairly lightweight for mobile/portable  
> applications.
> 
> Something like Qt (licensing issues again!) would be more desirable,  
> IMO.  wxWidgets claims to be a similar open source cross-platform  
> development toolkit, but I know nothing about it (other than the only  
> time I tried to install on Solaris it wouldn't build without a fight).

My only issue with wxPython is it's rapid development, which is not
always backwards compatible.


-- 
73, de Brad KB8UYR/6 <rez touchofmadness com>