Garmin is one of those freaked out companies that is scared to produce Linux software, because of what Microsoft might do to them. Microsoft is capable of doing worse than the government, so it isn't a question of legality. It's a question of Microsoft releasing an update that makes Garmin GPSs fail with Windows. That's a terrifying thought to have 6 million GPS receivers shipped back to Garmin, by customers who think the units aren't working. Microsoft can do this, but not many people are aware of it, and if anyone could prove Microsoft used this as a threat, it would be devastating to the software giant.

This is a petition to Garmin asking for Linux software.

http://www.petitiononline.com/Garmin/petition.html

No, Microsoft can't do it - I'm pretty sure the contracts would disallow it just like Motorola can't release an automatic upgrade to all their new cellphones that renders them useless until the user buys an official 1000$ upgrade.

The usual reason behind some manufacturer not making drivers for their devices for Linux is that it requires a lot of work - typically the software is developed for one OS which is not Linux, and if it's not thought about in the beginning that one day there may be other operating systems around to play with, it can mean quite a lot of work to create support for a new operating system from scratch for loads of devices. It is possible to do, but it requires working hours and money, and as long as it's not known to surely bring a lot of money in, they're not interested in trying out just for fun.

Internet petitions are rather useless if you ask me; at least in today's world. The effect is rather minimal, especially if the peoples who sign it stay anonymous or if there's a possibility of fake identities/fake names, and nobody usually wants to give any data that identifies them, because it could lead to problems in the future - who knows if your future employer searches the web and finds out you've signed for something s/he dislikes some people do think about these things - like why some people who carry out riots cover their faces, because they feel they can do more if they stay anonymous (which is quite true, really).

Or maybe the market for Linux software for Garmin devices has been deemed too small to be commercially viable?

Just a thought.

Dave

what total nonsense... M$ would deliberately nuke all garmin GPS devices? give me a break... sure there could be "less favourable" deals in however they currently interact with M$, but you're in real tinfoil hat territory to think that.

Love my Legend Hcx, I'm not sure why someone hasn't developed something in Linux to talk to it or ported over a 3rd party app like easygps http://www.easygps.com/ . Or if someone has developed an app, why I haven't found it. I don't think Garmin has a real vision of why they need to port to Linux, and I think if they did port it over you wouldn't see any change in sales. (sorry but others don't seem to have the support either).

Best to pay-attention to what National Geographic is doing: they've got the 24K USGS maps and up-to-date road data and it works nicely with Magellan receivers.

Also, I'm basically holding-off on all vendor-specific GPS stuff because I can plainly see where the wind is headed, every time I pick up my iPhone. I certainly don't need to buy "two or three copies of the same thing" from Garmin, one for each GPS just because they won't allow it to be put on more than one unit. I need a general-purpose machine that knows where it is. A bluetooth GPS can do that now. The next iPhone undoubtedly will too.

If Garmin's still stuck in yesterday, that's their loss.

When I contacted Garmin for info on how to get my updater SW working on Linux, they told me that some of the newer models will have Linux support. I have not followed up.

IMHO, petitions like this are a waste. Contact the manufacturer directly.

Yeah, well who'd sign that as a percentage of Garmin's audience? 0.1% Tops? since when would 0.1% really be of interest to a major company in itself. There are many reasons to want to support linux as well, but if they don't want to do it of their own choosing, a tiny percentage of nothing isn't going to swing it...