"Best" chart/navigation software

[Jeff C.]

Super quick post to an old thread:

1. The spirit of open source projects like OpenCPN is that anyone can work on them. If someone feels the documentation could be better, the best thing they can do about it is to write better docs. Even tiny updates like "this USB GPS dongle works with recent Apples" would help. If someone feels configuration wizards would help, one useful response is to write one. So it was great to see someone helping with the docs.


2. People should not expect open source projects to have the same kind of support or polish or user interface design quality of a commercial product. Because they're not. Companies spend a lot of money on the latter usually. Sometimes, however the community support for an open source project can be better than commercial support.

3. Not everyone can "do it yourself". That's ok. Know your limits/interests. Use a commercial product instead.



4. One way to get a quick start is to use a prebuilt Linux image that includes OpenCPN, such as OpenPlotter or Bareboat Necessities BBN OS. I haven't tried them myself, but they may have chart directories set up already, etc.

(I have OpenCPN on my Android phone and tablet.)