[wsfii-discuss] OpenGeoData-related comments from LWN

Thu Sep 29 12:58:27 UTC 2005

Hi,

Was reading Linux Weekly News and saw the following comments on an article:

 Some additions/comments
(Posted Sep 22, 2005 10:36 UTC (Thu) by subscriber laf0rge) (Post reply)

Please see the OpenTom project for TomTom GO navigation systems.
TomTom has been very helpful in releasing all kernel code under GPL
(there even is 100% free SD-Card support). They even released pinouts
of the connectors, etc.
<snip>

Some additions/comments
(Posted Sep 22, 2005 13:10 UTC (Thu) by subscriber wookey) (Post reply)

Indeed. Tom Tom have been remarkably enlightened as companies
approached by GPLviolations.org go. They were smart enough to employ
(some of) the open tom hackers to help with their kernel 2.6 port for
example.

The big potential for devices like this is to help collect input data
for open geospatial data projects like openstreetmap.org. If some of
the world's TomToms have software which makes it easy to collect,
annotate and upload track information then we can make fairly complete
road-map datasets remarkably quickly.

This stuff will no doubt be discussed at the World Free Information
Infrastructure Conference on 5th/6th October in London.

On the newer TomToms with flash drives in them you have enormous
potential for making cool systems which play music and movies, and log
tracks, as well as doingyour navigation. Build systems like Open
Embedded and Embedded Debian should make it easier to knock together
small-enough systems using standard components for relatively powerful
devices like this. I'd encourage anyone with an interest in the
potential to help out wherever they can.

Some additions/comments
(Posted Sep 22, 2005 13:25 UTC (Thu) by subscriber wookey) (Post reply)

That should have been 1st/2nd of October for the conference. Apologies
for my brain-rot.

End of excerpt from http://lwn.net/Articles/152628/#Comments

--
Mamading Ceesay

"Isn't a state that keeps files on innocent persons a police state?"
-- David Mery - Innocent In London http://gizmonaut.net/bits/suspect.html