> Much of the time, OSS is written by people that have an interest in a
> particular subject and have the ability to write software. Apparently no
> one is interested in writing more astronomy software.
Very good point. Not many people are interested in astronomy, enough
to buy a telescope that will need software to control it, that is. Of
those, not many people know how to program. Of those, not very many
are Linux users. Of those, not many would take the leap from being a
user to a developer. We do not have the critical number to produce a
vibrant community that created wonderful software like OpenOffice.org
or Mozilla Firefox.
It took years and thousands of programmers for OpenOffice.org to reach
comparable level of quality to MS Office. I highly doubt that the
astronomical community could come up with an open source project of
the same level as Starry Night.
Yes, there are open source astronomy software. I mentioned KStars,
Cartes du Ciel, Stellarium, and Celestia because these are already the
BEST available in the open source world. One can easily come up with
pages and pages of astronomy software for Linux but these will be
mostly junk, and would not compare with the four I mentioned. And yet,
these four do not even come close to the best astronomy software
available for Windows. (Yes, there are also a lot of junk astronomy
programs in Windows).
> Have you tried running the software you named under Wine?
1) SkyMap Pro runs well in Wine, but the ASCOM platform (a set of
drivers that form the bridge between the telescope and the software)
do not work in Wine.
2) Starry Night Pro is a Java-based program, and almost all Java
programs I have seen have a Linux version. It was therefore initially
surprising that Starry Night only has versions for Windows and Mac. I
recently found out why: Starry Night requires QuickTime, which only
works in Windows and Mac. QuickTime doesn't work in Wine, and
consequently neither does Starry Night.
3) TheSky Professional runs in Wine, but with a lot of bugs. Since I
prefer the two afformentioned, this is not a deal breaker for me. A
lot of astronomers though prefer TheSky due to its features, and the
fact that it is bundled with many telescopes upon purchase.
> Have you contacted the software's developers and asking them develop a
> Linux based port?
1) SkyMap is developed by a single person, a physics professor named
Chris Marriott. Unfortunately he is currently very sick and
development is currently on hold. Through the years, a lot of people
from the skymap Yahoo! Group have asked him (myself included) for a
Linux port, but he has politely turned them down. Starting a Linux
port is a big project that he doesn't have time to do, especially that
he can't even work on the existing Windows version. SkyMap does not
contain any eye-candy unlike others, but it is probably the most
scientifically sound in the computations it makes.
2) Starry Night, as I mentioned, is based on Java. Theoretically this
makes it easier to port to Linux. However its reliance on the
QuickTime libraries for providing the realistic sky effect makes it
almost impossible to have a Linux port until QuickTime itself has a
Linux port.
3) I am not much a user of TheSky, so I haven't even considered asking
its developers for a Linux port. However it is a very good product
which a lot of astronomers prefer.
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