On other forums (e.g. SGL) there is a general theme appearing which I think the founders of IndiLib/Kstars should consider.

A lot of people have problems with installing Indi/Kstars on RPI especially RPI3B+ (talking 32bit).

Now I know Stellarmate O/S (Ubuntu Mate) is available but even at the reasonable price new people are unwilling to fork out hard brass when they are unsure of even liking Indi/Kstars.

Would the "founders" consider changing the approach to :-

1. Full blown RPI3b images,including preinstalled Kstars/Indi, being made available (not scripts).

2. Again with RPI3B+ but either time limited (say 1 month) or no support what so ever option.

3. Instead of charging for the RPI3b+ Stellarmate O/S provide a "support only fee" (same price as the current Stellarmate O/S)

4. And of course ,as currently offered ,the all singing H/W and pre installed Sellarmate O/S

My main point is that to promote Indi/Kstars approach , especially to none techies, it needs to be simple "out of the box" and in these modern time "free" (at first anyway) to encourage take up. Today its hard to charge for s/w only especially without "try before you buy" - dont agree but thats the world we live in.

As I say its just my thoughts after being involved in threads on other forums.

Sorry in advance if this has been all discussed before - did look honest

What kind of issues were you having? With Ubuntu mate it should be just a matter of apt install kstars..

Besides, I must say that I am not a big fan of running everything on the little raspberry. It seems like squeezing too much into it. I currently use it as an indilib gateway to the network and then I use kstars and ekos on the notebook. Have you considered this approach?

Right, to install on Ubuntu for RPI3 is no different then installing on a PC. Just follow instructions here: indilib.org/download/ubuntu.html

I think he means to install Ubuntu Mate on rpi3b+ is not possible.... it will work on Stellarmate... as that’s been modded to work
We know it works on rpi3b it’s the + version that is the issue...

"A lot of people have problems with installing Indi/Kstars on RPI especially RPI3B+ (talking 32bit)."

Are such people members of this forum, if not then please encourage them to join.
We can then discuss the issues they may or may not have and offer solutions of needed.

I did do a long answer but - Indi Forum time out

So here's a short version:

1. Its not me it s users on other forums who have an perception of what Linux/Kstars/Indi is about - Most common remark "its for Nerds or Techies"

2. For users brought up on Windows its not "click and go" not matter what you say about "following instructions" and its not the place/time to argue about "just like installing on a PC" - as this is not true for "Windows Users" with no experience of Linux.

3. Running everything on one "box" may not suite everyone or even be the best way but as a taster for inexperienced Linux users I would say its a quick way to "get them hooked". P.S my "Grab and Go" is all on a single RPI3 and works very well tank you when in the field without carry vast amounts of h/w. At home thats different

4. The reason for this article is because I try to promote Kstars/Indi on other forums. Dont know if they are shy/too lazy or whatever - they dont come along and join this forum. They read the information/tutorials and to be honest they "run a mile". Maybe its the "spoon fed" approach users are used to with Windows but thats where we are IMHO.

As I say I am passing back info from my discussions on numerous threads about Kstars/Indi/Linux. What Indi do/think is up to the Developers and the way they think Indi is going.

P.S. Ubuntu Mate 16.04/Kstars 3.1/IndiLib works well on RPI3b+ including 5ghz wifi even if its running only in 32bit mode - without using Stellarmate

Clear Skies

The main issue with the Raspberry Pi 3B+ is not that KStars or INDI don't run on it as you pointed out, the main issue is that the Ubuntu folks have not put out a new version of Ubuntu-MATE (or any Ubuntu) for the Raspberry Pi 3B+. Also, they haven't yet released a version of the new Ubuntu 18 for any Raspberry Pi yet. They were saying it would be ready by December 2018, but now it is almost January. Ubuntu is definitely not the only way to run KStars/INDI on a Raspberry Pi, but it is the best way in my opinion. I am hoping that they do it soon, but it won't do any good to complain about that issue in the INDI forums since we don't have anything to do with creating Ubuntu here. We should be encouraging and supportive of their getting it ready.

Also you should note that there are no "founders" as you called them for INDI or KStars. KStars/INDI are free, community driven software developed by the people, for the people. There is no cost to use them. Anyone can contribute to the project and dozens of people have done so over the last couple of decades. Also anyone can use the software free of charge. None of us gets paid to contribute to the projects.

We all would like to see KStars and INDI improve over time and would also like to see it get more adopted as you describe. Numerous people have set up solutions for getting it out to the people. Some have made instructions, some have made scripts (like me), and yes some have also made complete images as you have requested. The latter category includes Stellarmate, Astroberry Server, and ZWO's ASI Air (though they have their own stuff in there). Instructions and Scripts don't really cost anything for the creator to put them up there except for time and effort. But putting together a complete image and then hosting it for users to download, that takes significant resources to produce and maintain. Also, each device is different and would require different images. That is why the images and prepackaged devices typically cost money like Stellarmate.

There are completely free methods of getting your device all set up, such as my script and instructions, but those methods will require the user to put in extra time to set them up. If the user wants for it all to be done for him or her, then I think they should look at one of the prepackaged INDI devices or images that are available. The complete system including the image costs less than some comparable imaging software does. Now that being said, if somebody would like to put together an image and get it up there for everybody to use for free, awesome do it, help everyone out! I know that I don't currently have the time or resources to do this, since I have a full time job as well as all the time that I have been volunteering helping with KStars and INDI, but if somebody else can provide that service for free, awesome, more power to you!!

Thanks,

Rob

One thing I should have mentioned when I mentioned Astroberry Server. I believe that one is free if I am not mistaken. Isn't that basically what you are looking for?

I say it again I am not looking for anything - its the feedback from other non Indi users on other forums.

Thank you for your comments I will pass them back to users on the other forums.



Clear Skies.

Hi Stash, I would simply advise them to buy StellarMate if they don't want problems, or if they have any familiarity with linux, they could buy a RPi3B+ for fun and load StellarMate OS into it. But also advise them never to click the update icon. That will only lead to misery due to untested updates. They could think of it as a shrink wrap product like a router. On the client side, the MacOS install for example, is super easy so they shouldn't have a problem there. If they are not willing to spend the money... well you can only lead a horse to water as they say.

(I've been using version 1.3 for a long time now and its been very reliable - an auto setup for GPS would be nice tho

“Never click the update icon on Stellarmate”, what a load of rubbish I update mine on a weekly basis, and in 18 months have never had an issue, but I don’t use Kstars nightly as that is for testers and can cause issues...

Lucky you. Maybe its people like me who have been working with the developers and finding bugs and issues for the last year or two who have made it better for you. Yes, do not update unless you are willing to have things that once worked suddenly not work. If you find something then its your turn to further help the development of this very good product.