[aprssig] program for linix

[Ray Wells]

On 22/05/14 07:22, Erv Heimbuck wrote:
> I am currently running my igate using uiview but am thinking of going to a
> linix platform for my Igate and also my website.  Does anyone have a
> recommendation for a linix igate program and also which flavor of linix
> seems to support it best.
>
> Erv
> K0OTZ-7  igate
>
>
>
Erv,

What follows is my opinion and, whilst I'm allowed to have that opinion, 
it doesn't make me right in your situation. To each his own.

Given that you're going to replace UIView I'll guess that you will still 
want a GUI based Igate with equal or better facilities and that pretty 
much leaves Xastir, which is mature and stable, and has its own active 
mailing list. Whilst some Windoze programs *might* run under wine, wine 
can be a disappointing substitute for "doing it properly", based on my 
experiences with Windoze applications in wine, spread over around ten 
years. Some work, some kinda work, some absolutely won't work and some 
work unreliably/unpredictably. YMMV. If you are not Linux savvy, wine 
might give you additional headaches (sometimes lots of them), at a time 
when learning Linux itself can be trying enough. A better approach to 
running that "must have" Windoze program and still run Linux is to run 
an instance of Windoze in a Virtual Machine, such as the free, Virtual 
Box. As a personal preference I want my "radio" applications to be able 
to use the kernel ax25 stack so that I can have multiple applications 
sharing any given radio port. Some applications can't talk to the kernel 
ax25 stack. As I said, personal preference.

As for which distribution to use, ask ten people and you'll get ten 
different answers. I would suggest you choose one of the major 
distributions such as Debian, Suse, Slackware, et al. Distributions 
based on a major distro, particularly 'buntu which is Debian based, have 
a large following. If you decide on a 'buntu based distribution I would 
suggest Linux Mint (LM) because its user "friendliness" exceeds that  of 
'buntu. My biggest gripe with any 'buntu based distro is the frequency 
of version updates and the difficulty I had when moving up the ladder to 
the next version. I ended up doing a complete re-install. That situation 
may have improved since I abandoned Ubuntu/Kubuntu. The three year 
release LTS version was marginally better. If you're a bit Linux savvy 
you might try the Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) which is based on the 
current testing version of vanilla Debian but with most of the user 
friendliness of 'buntu based LM. Even vanilla Debian, once renowned for 
being a tad unfriendly, is much more appealing these days than it used 
to be but it still has what I refer to as "Debianisms". I use Linux Mint 
on my desktop machine (with xastir) and my Dell laptop (xastir also 
installed) but use the testing branch of vanilla Debian (currently 
Jessie) for all radio/server applications. My Raspberry Pi computers 
(x3) all run Raspbian which is based on the current stable Debian 
release (currently Wheezy). I have had xastir running on the RPi. I 
started with vanilla Debian about twenty years ago and within the next 
year or so I will again be using vanilla Debian exclusively. My original 
reason for using Debian was that the person who introduced me to Linux 
used that distro, so help was readily available on the phone, at a time 
that preceded the internet at home. If you're likely to need help with 
Linux and you have a Linux savvy friend, use that same distro as that 
friend.

I used xastir for years as an igate with three radio ports (2m, 30m and 
the ISS) and was never disappointed with it. When I went to a remote, 
headless installation with the RPi I changed to dixprs, again with three 
radio ports and, again, that program hasn't disappointed me; it seems to 
do all that is needed for an igate. Is one program better than the 
other, is either program the best that's available. Is Kenwood better 
than Icom or Yaesu? The best one is the one that suits YOUR needs and 
none are perfect.

Ray vk2tv