[Live-demo] XCsoar application to join OSGeo-Live

Mon Dec 10 17:40:17 PST 2012

On Dec 10, 2012, at 2:39 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote:

> Application for an application used by Glider pilots to join OSGeo- 
> Live.
>
> My assessment is:
> 1. It looks to be a stable application, with a strong community  
> behind it which is good.

    very good - I just viewed the intro tour video and a quick check  
of the website. I would concur with Cameron's assessment

> 2. It is a very targeted application (for glider pilots). Is OSGeo- 
> Live in a position to adopt this and many other targeted  
> applications such as this? I'm inclined to say yes, if the project  
> is widely used within the targeted community.
>

   of course there are an infinite number of niche applications..  
however..
we do have a precedent for a niche navigation app, with GPS Drive

> So I'm voting +1 to include XCsoar.

   decision weighting might also be based on size on disk, use of  
open standards, innovative or compelling implementation
   other factors ?

   the very first point in the intro video is the strong data  
compression used! that helps a lot here!
   one of the first things to catch my eye in the web site discussion  
forums is a vigorous open source culture!

   looks good to me  +1  notwithstanding other factors as yet unknown

>
> Any comments from others?
>

--
Brian M Hamlin
OSGeo California Chapter
maplabs at light42.com
415-717-4462 cell

> On 10/12/2012 11:26 PM, Scott Penrose wrote:
>> Hi Cameron
>>
>> OK quick effort at the last moment...
>>
>>
>> I won't try and get on the email list and send it may take too  
>> long. Is it ok to send to you. If not I can do it first thing in  
>> the morning.
>>
>>> 	• Please describe your application.
>>> 		• What is its name?
>> XCSoar
>>
>>> 		• What is the home page URL?
>> http://xcsoar.org/
>>
>>> 		• Which OSI approved Open Source Licence is used?
>> GPL
>>
>>> 		• What does the application do and how does it add value to the  
>>> GeoSpatial stack of software?
>> XCSoar is a tactical glide computer originally developed for the  
>> Pocket PC platform. In 2005, the originally commercial software  
>> was given to the open-source community for further development and  
>> has constantly been improved since. It is now a multi-platform  
>> application that currently runs on Windows, Windows Mobile, Unix  
>> and even Android devices.
>>
>> In many ways it is an end user of GeoSpacial data, importing lots  
>> of information, from terrain to maps, airspace to real time  
>> weather. XCSoar also produces content in the international  
>> standard IGC file format - International Gliding Commission,   
>> Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
>>
>> Part of XCSoar is also publishing tracks after flights and even  
>> live tracking through child projects such as Sky Lines - http:// 
>> skylines.xcsoar.org/
>>
>>> 		• Does the application make use of OGC standards? Which  
>>> versions of the standards? Client or server? You may wish to add  
>>> comments about how standards are used.
>> Data used by XCSoar includes:
>> * Maps - built using JPEG2000 from standard formats (very limited  
>> space on glide computers) - Terrain & Topology
>> * Airspace - OpenAir format - standard for Aviation airspace
>> * Waypoints - Lots of formats supported
>> * Flarmnet - FLARM is the international anti collision system used  
>> (stand alone), this DB allows us to use Flarm data for identification
>> * Waypoint details file - text file
>> * Checklists - text file
>>
>>> 		• What language is it written in?
>>
>> C++
>>
>>> 		• Which version of the application should be included in the  
>>> next OSGeo-Live release?
>> STABLE - 6.4.4
>>
>>> 	• Stability is very important to us on OSGeo-Live. If a new user  
>>> finds a bug in one application, it will tarnish the reputation of  
>>> all other OSGeo-Live applications as well. (We pay most attention  
>>> to the following answers):
>>> 		• If risk adverse organisations have deployed your application  
>>> into production, it would imply that these organisations have  
>>> verified the stability of your software. Has the application been  
>>> rolled out to production into risk (ideally risk adverse)  
>>> organisations? Please mention some of these organisations?
>> Not really. We know XCSoar is used by defence, and gliding pilots,  
>> hang gliders, para gliders and other aviation use it for 7+ hours  
>> each day. Pilots do not depend on the software for safety, but  
>> they do for competition. It is used in almost all gliding  
>> competitions across the world.
>>
>>> 		• What is the size of the user community? You can often answer  
>>> this by mentioning downloads, or describing a healthy, busy email  
>>> list?
>> In Android via Google Play alone there is 509 ratings (4.7/5  
>> stars) & 21,950 installs (that is not downloads, that is installs  
>> - which means if users have multiple devices they only get 1, and  
>> each new version still only registers 1 user).
>>
>> Gliding is relatively small, 2000+ pilots in Australia. The  
>> numbers of users on Mac, Windows, PocketPC, and dedicated devices  
>> (e.g. Altair) is not recorded.
>>
>>> 		• What is the size of your developer community?
>> 10 very active (daily commit) developers. 50 developers over the  
>> last year.
>>
>>> 		• Do you have a bug free, stable release?
>> Yes. As it is used in gliding competitions it is very important.  
>> Very quick community to update too.
>>
>>> 		• Please discuss the level of testing that your project has  
>>> gone through.
>> Built in unit testing. Lots of recent work in performance testing  
>> (it is important with older and small embedded devices). User  
>> testing by all "release candidates" before final stable builds.
>>
>> Code is all done in GIT, and all pulls are code reviewed and  
>> tested before merging.
>>
>>> 		• How long has the project has had mature code.
>> 5 years. Slow period 3 years ago with fresh development team with  
>> now even more mature code in the last 2 years.
>>
>>> 	• OSGeo-Live is targeted at applications that people can use  
>>> rather than libraries. Does the application have a user interface  
>>> (possibly a command line interface) that a user can interact  
>>> with? (We do make an exception for Incubated OSGeo Libraries, and  
>>> will include Project Overviews for these libraries, even if they  
>>> don't have a user interface.)
>> Yes it is a GUI interface.
>>
>>> 	• We give preference to OSGeo Incubated Projects, or Projects  
>>> which are presented at FOSS4G conferences. If your project is  
>>> involved in OSGeo Incubation, or has been selected to be  
>>> presented at FOSS4G, then please mention it.
>> It has been at many conferences, including OSDC.com.au, but not  
>> FOSS4G (although I went when it was in Australia).
>>
>>> 	• With around 50 applications installed on OSGeo-Live, us core  
>>> packagers do not have the time to liaise with every single  
>>> project email list for each OSGeo-Live release. So we require a  
>>> volunteer (or two) to take responsibility for liaising between  
>>> OSGeo-Live and the project's communities. This volunteer will be  
>>> responsible for ensuring the install scripts and English  
>>> documentation are updated by someone for each OSGeo-Live release.  
>>> Also test that the installed application and Quickstart  
>>> documentation works as expected on release candidate releases of  
>>> OSGeo-Live. Who will act as the project's liaison person.
>> Scott Penrose <scottp at dd.com.au> - expert in XCSoar and Linux,  
>> happy to help.
>>
>>> 	• OSGeo-Live is Ubuntu Linux based. Our installation preference is:
>>> 		• Install from UbuntuGIS or DebianGIS
>>> 		• Install .deb files from a PPA
>>> 		• Write a custom install script
>> Probably just a custom install script for this release. Although  
>> it is fairly easy stand alone install.
>>
>>> Can you please discuss how your application will be installed.
>>> 	• OSGeo-Live is memory and disk constrained. Can the application  
>>> run in 512 Meg of RAM?
>> Yes
>>
>>> 	• How much disk space will be required to install the  
>>> application and a suitable example application?
>> Approx 10MB
>>
>>> 	• We aim to reduce disk space by having all applications make  
>>> use of a common dataset. We encourage applications to make use of  
>>> the example datasets already installed:
>>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Live_GIS_Add_Project#Example_Datasets  
>>> If another dataset would be more appropriate, please discuss  
>>> here. Is it appropriate, to remove existing demo datasets which  
>>> may already be included in the standard release.
>> Unfortunately not possible, but the demo data set can be very  
>> constrained.
>>
>>> 	• Each OSGeo-Live application requires a Project Overview  
>>> available under a CC By and a Quickstart available under a CC By- 
>>> SA license. (You may release under a second license as well).  
>>> Will you produce this?
>> Yes
>>
>>> 	• In past releases, we have included Windows and Mac installers  
>>> for some applications. It is likely we won't have space for these  
>>> in future releases. However, if there is room, would you be  
>>> wishing to include Windows and/or Mac installers?
>> Yes we have a Mac and Windows installer. The data files can be  
>> common to all versions. There is also an Android, Pocket PC and  
>> other versions.
>>
>> Scott
>
>
> -- 
> Cameron Shorter
> Geospatial Solutions Manager
> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
>
> Think Globally, Fix Locally
> Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
> http://www.lisasoft.com
>
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