User:Usul/NavitRefactoring
From Navit's Wiki
Contents
Idea[edit]
This is not about forking!
- enabling the NAVIT team to restart/refactor codebase to become the #1 OSM offline navigation application
- fundraise resources to get this done
background[edit]
- NAVIT had been started with different goals/scenarios long time ago (only few mobile platforms, no open geodata provider, ...)
- internal structures reflect this and bring limits
- makes only suboptimal use of OSM and get problems by the amount of the data
- OSM would need more "consumers" (passive users) even to attract more editors worldwide - and to test new features / versions if they wish
- therefore an offline app that uses state of art the technologies is nessesary but currently not on the way
- commercial efforts have to fail (as they need to earn money in the long run)
- NAVIT crew has superb knowledge on tuned file format, limited ressources, crossplatform development, customizations
- but in last months there were no steps towards better usability/deployment
goals[edit]
- NAVIT should be redesigned with OSM as major free data provider in mind (e.g. making downloads easier, make use of details, care about data volume/complexity, ...)
- NAVIT should become user friendly for consumers, while stay easy to customize/expand/adapt for freaks
- NAVIT should allow user feedback towards OSM as OSMBugs or similar
- NAVIT should modularise/package OSD/map style/map colouring/routing profiles/GPS sources/speech output ...
- NAVIT should support pedestrians...truckers, warn traffic lights / traffic signs, display speed limits, POI search, address search ... (making use of more OSM details)
- NAVIT should support very different usecase e.g. just viewing map in train to find a restaurant when you hop off, finding the next rest area / gas station on a motorway ride etc.
- NAVIT should try to offer equal or better functionality than commercial car navigation systems
pros[edit]
for OSM:
- a working open source navi app for all platform might bring OSM to a lot of more endusers
- can show how detailed OSM is and embed features, that only OSM can currently offer
- let users give feedback on the drive in a way, that OSM mappers can really improve the map with usefull comments
for NAVIT:
- gets the ressources for a sprint (money, fresh people including usability experts, designers, ...)
- is getting able to correct legacy code and doing 'a big jump' forwards
- gets the attention/users it (IMHO) deserves
- starting from scratch offers max freedom of choice with keeping experiences in mind
- with raising popularity, some tasks can be outsourced to the crowd (docs, platforms, designing new UI/styles/...).
cons[edit]
- might be hard to accept, that some devs get paid and some not :(
limitations[edit]
What can't be done, even if people spend a lot of money?
- no iPhone support? (GPL vs. iOS and appStore [1])
- no Windows Phone support? (GPS vs. Windows Store [2] and no cross compiling possible?)
opinions[edit]
- user:tryagain doesn't think that a general deep refactoring is nessesary
- user:cp15 agrees that NAVIT is still highly modular
roadmap[edit]
Just ideas for a roadmap to improve NAVIT
- Wiki cleanup
- Wiki adding update/details
- unify communication channels and information sources
- poll about dev bottlenecks and design pitfalls
- asking externals about user storys
- [3]
- Güterverkehr
- [4]
- User:Xenos1984/Navit_use_case - on a complex journey to a conference
- using multiple devices
- doing a complex scenatio with changed way of moving (e.g. frist driver, than geocacher)
money[edit]
- for build server
- for central map package convert server
- for getting testing devices (smartphones, tablets, GPSreceivers, ...)
