Curt, WE7U wrote:
Now that you'll know some of the direction were headed back then, let's talk about the direction we're headed now: Xastir-NG (Xastir Next Generation).
I have a radical, yet basic, suggestion for any new generation of Xastir. Maybe this has been discussed on the developers' list but I think it applies to Xastir users, and the APRS community as a whole.
Please, Please, Please factor out the core APRS functions (packet parsing/encoding, aprs-is interface, beacon timing, messaging protocols, etc.) and put them into an open source library that can (and WILL be) used by everyone!
Currently, the APRS spec is a curmudgeon-driven kludge pit. Supposedly, the "definitive" implementation of the APRS spec is still APRS-DOS?! The internet is littered with dead and dying APRS implementations. Every standalone APRS implementation and APRS web application implements the spec in its own way, causing untold headaches on rf and the internet. A definitive "core aprslib" could save the day!
The Xastir community is the place to make this happen. You already have the code, you are open source and you are well respected. It will only strengthen the Xastir product itself. It would make you the ARPS leaders because you would be managing the NEW definitive implementation of APRS. It wouldn't take anything away from Xastir, because the major value in Xastir is everything "on top of" the core aprs functions. A definitive aprs library would benefit ALL of aprs, and that would benefit Xastir.
Now, there's one part of my suggestion that might be offensive to Xastir folks. I think that a core aprslib should NOT be GPL! Open source, yes, but released under LGPL, BSD, MIT or similar license. To make the most of the concept, EVERYONE (even commercial developers) should use this library as the core of their products.
As a disclaimer, I'm not an APRS developer or wanna-be APRS developer of any sort. I'm just a relatively new APRS user who is very disappointed at the reality of APRS versus its potential. My C/C++ skills have long rusted away, but I would be glad to volunteer in areas like API documentation and creating python bindings.
Thanks for listening! --Jeff, N0JUH _______________________________________________ Xastir mailing list Xastir@xastir.org http://lists.xastir.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/xastir
