[NTLUG:Discuss] Linux Friendly GPS?

[Kevin E. Ivey]

Daniel Hauck wrote:
> I am preparing to move to the east coast for two or more years and it is
> an area that I am not familiar with. For years I have wanted a GPS drive
> device but have never been able to really justify it because I pretty
> much know how to get around all over Texas. But this will be different.
> 
> So I am interested in recommendations on the most Linux friendly GPS
> drive device available. Anyone with experiences and recommendations?

Howdy,

I have had very good experiences with just about any self-contained GPS 
receivers working with Linux and GPSDrive specifically.

The receiver I use the most is a Garmin GPS-16.  It is a receiver and 
antenna sealed in a plastic lump that outputs serial NMEA data read 
through the serial port of my old Dell Laptop.

Most modern portable computers have no serial ports, so a USB or 
Bluetooth receiver is required.  The USB receivers must emulate a serial 
port in order to work, unless the software can read a NMEA stream 
through the USB interface.  Bluetooth works around this by only having a 
physical USB connection to the Bluetooth transceiver.  BT works right 
out of the box in Linux, so getting the GPS data is just like receiving 
a file or an audio stream.

I'm not sure which devices use the various formats for GPS data, but 
XGPS and GPSDrive work with serial NMEA output and with the Bluetooth 
devices.

So, I guess it depends on your computer and the type of ports available.

Hope that helps,

keVIn