The Quest for Kstars...

worldgnat · 05-27-2005, 07:14 PM

OK, I'm trying to install kstars on suse 9.2. I'm a newb, and I'm pretty scientific, so I wrote my attempt down in a log of sorts. I figured out that I need X includes in xorg-x11-devel, so I downloaded xorg-x11-devel-6.8.2-1.EL.13.5.i386.rpm. This told me I needed:

fontconfig-devel >= 2.1
pkgconfig
xorg-x11-libs-6.8.2

I downloaded:

fontconfig-devel-2.1-9.i386.rpm
pkgconfig-0.15.0-3_4.rhfc3.92.at.i386.rpm
xorg-x11-libs-6.8.2-1.EL.i386.rpm

from rpm search. Now, I run rpm -i fontconfig-devel-2.1-9.i386.rpm, and I get an error that says:

Code:

warning: fontconfig-devel-2.1-9.i386.rpm: V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID db42a60e
error: Failed dependencies:
        fontconfig = 2.1 is needed by fontconfig-devel-2.1-9
        freetype-devel >= 2.1.2-7 is needed by fontconfig-devel-2.1-9

I tried --force and I get the same thing. I even tried --nosuggest, and and exact same thing. Help?

-Peter

craigevil · 05-27-2005, 07:38 PM

Try "Celestia is an OpenGL-based 3D space simulation for Unix and Win32 that lets you travel through the solar system, to the stars, and even beyond the galaxy. Visit over 100,000 stars, 100 solar system bodies, and all known extrasolar planets."
http://freshmeat.net/projects/celestia/

worldgnat · 05-27-2005, 11:10 PM

I have, but I don't have 3d graphics, and I'm more of an astronimer than and tour person. I need the info/hard facts. Besides, I really like kstars. Thanks for the advise though.

-Peter

mjolnir · 10-26-2005, 08:05 AM

Worldgnat, did you get kstars installed? I just found it on my Knoppix install and it looks like a pretty cool program. I am just getting interested in astronomy and kstars ability to interface with a telescope intrigues me. What hardware would use suggest for a beginner?

worldgnat · 10-26-2005, 10:36 AM

I did as a matter of fact. I would recommend Celestron. They are very good telescopes. The thing you will need to do is go to an observing session or star party no matter what telescope you get. I'm a beginner myself, I've seen a few planets and stars, but I'm still pretty inexperienced. Try going to a local planetarium and talking to someone there. This is a great link for telescope buyers. I used it to buy my telescope. Now for hardware, Celestron has Nexstar, which is a very good on-board computer. Look at what KStars supports and cross-reference that with what you think you'd like ina telescope.

Let me know is you need more help,
-Peter

mjolnir · 10-26-2005, 10:58 AM

Thanks for the advice. Very nice link also. There is a planetarium fairly close to where I live and I intend to visit it soon.