Create GPX Tracks using Kurviger

[troy]

Eddie (ajayhawkfan) tipped me off about https://kurviger.de/, a free, browser-based route planning tool. There are many of these tools out there, and I was relatively impressed with this one. I created a tutorial video to show you how to use it if you'd like to try it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDRHyevhwbc

While I like Kurviger, and it has some unique features I really like, I still like https://ridewithgps.com better for several reasons. RideWithGPS is about $50/year.

[ajayhawkfan]

Nicely done Troy.

PS. You look smart with glasses.

[DirtFarmer]

I've got to start doing something different. I'm still creating routes in MapSource and converting them to tracks in Base Camp.

I still don't like using Base Camp. Unfortunately, I have to download my Montana to Base Camp but I copy and paste what I want in MapSource and save the file with it.


I did not realize Ride with GPS was that expensive. Ride with GPS is popular in the bicycle world. I still have my first mapping software from 20 years ago, Roads & Rec.

[troy]

IMPORTANT update: In my video, I show you how to export as GPX which creates a compatible import file for Mapsource, Basecamp, most GPS devices, OsmAnd, etc. Most GPS related software "speaks" GPX.

HOWEVER, for the purpose of saving your Kurviger work to work on later (using import to bring your file back into Kurviger), it is important that you export a .kurviger format file. In the Export screen, there is a select box that defaults to .gpx. You can choose .kurviger there.

Here is how I figured this out:
https://forum.kurviger.de/t/saving-my-r ... t-fail/335

For me personally, the jury is still out on Kurviger, but there is a lot to like about this tool.

[troy]

I'm still creating routes in MapSource and converting them to tracks in Base Camp.

I definitely understand your pain as I went through the Mapsource to Basecamp transition many years ago. Basecamp is SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from Mapsource. It is different not only in how you interact with the map to create routes, the entire concept of how it saves and organizes your data is wildly different.

HOWEVER, in my opinion, Basecamp's route building and editing tools are hands-down better than Mapsource. It is worth the investment to master it and leave Mapsource in the dust---which is where Garmin tried to put it a decade ago.

For simple route building, Mapsource actually does fine. However, as soon as you want to edit a route, split a route, extend a route, convert a route to tracks and vice versa, filter a track down to a max of 500 points......Basecamp starts to shine.

I don't use Basecamp anymore, but I do recommend it. The reason I don't is because I "forced" myself to go 100% Linux for my operating system. I don't have a Windows or Mac computer anymore, and there is not a Linux version of Basecamp. In fact, Basecamp was one of the only pieces of software that caused some hesitation in my abandonment of Windows.

[Creekside]

Abandon windows? That's pretty bold. Linux is pretty good and I use it inside of Virtual Box or VMWare for windows at work , but I am very unsure about the "daily driver" aspect of just using Linux.

But if you need to know Linux and be an expert in it, you did it right, best to jump in, swim off and never look back!

[troy]

Geek Corner

Abandon windows? That's pretty bold. Linux is pretty good and I use it inside of Virtual Box or VMWare for windows at work , but I am very unsure about the "daily driver" aspect of just using Linux.

But if you need to know Linux and be an expert in it, you did it right, best to jump in, swim off and never look back!

Two factors have made using Linux as a daily desktop viable.

• The world keeps progressing towards browser-based applications or "cloud-based" applications. So more and more of what people need and want to do can be done using a browser rather than a locally installed application. Google Sheet instead of Excel, Quickbooks Online instead of Quickbooks Desktop, etc, etc.
• Linux distros such as Ubuntu have gotten very, very good. Ubuntu since v14 has been very nice in my opinion, but Ubuntu 18 is simply beautiful. It's a very sleek UI that is very fast and really makes sense--intuitive even. Most everything people normally want to do is probably easier in Ubuntu's latest UI than it is in Windows.

And of course there are plenty of high-quality Linux-specific applications to do many things. For example, I created the video above using OBS on Linux. All of my software developer tools run on Windows, Mac, or Linux.

When Mac moved to a Linux-based OS, that narrowed the gap between creating Mac compatible software and Linux compatible versions of these applications.

Without a doubt, paid, polished Windows programs are generally higher quality and more likely to work hassle-free than some of the Linux alternatives. So if you find yourself needing a specific Windows program, then stick with Windows. My daughter plays Sims 4 and Minecraft as well as other games that require Windows, so her laptop is running Windows 10.

Once I realized everything my wife does on her computer is in a browser, I wiped her laptop and installed Ubuntu. She loves it. It boots up super fast and the battery lasts a long time, too. That is a pretty convincing testimony for using Ubuntu.