Last time I talked a bit about what was available for me in the carputer market, but this time I want to delve a little more deeply into the Open Source mapping idea.

I've decided that, at least at this point, Roadnav is my OSS GPS mapping app of choice. One of the things I like most about it is the 3d POV moving map. That makes it look a lot like current standalone GPS units. My biggest annoyance with it, however, is the fact that driving directions are given in a separate window. I can live with it, though.

Roadnav uses TIGER/Line data from the US Census Bureau for mapping within the US, because there's no better (yet) free source. However, there's a project meaning to change that.

One of the problems with the TIGER data is that it doesn't have tags for one-way streets. So it'll give you directions right down the wrong way. That's deal-with-able for now. But, there will be a better way!

Since there was no source for free mapping data available for Europe, a group of folks got together and started the Open Street Map project. Not much has been done in the US yet, likely due to the availability of the TIGER data, but most of Britain, especially London, has been.

Roadnav currently uses the OSM data for mapping within Europe. Hopefully, more people start mapping the US soon.

If you want to contribute to the effort, and I personally hope you do, go here to get started.