Hello everyone,
I like to use computer without a graphical interface whenever such a thing is possible. Consulting maps is right now one of the few thing that computer actually cannot do without a graphical interface enabled. However, after thinking about it, there is no technical reason behind this limitation.
It should be technically possible to program an OS renderer that could output text mode ascii art, that could display open stree map data in to a computer terminal. Neededless to say, much less features will be rendered than with, say Mapnik, but at least the town names and the streets layout could be rendered.
I would potentially be interested in developing such a thing, however if I am the only crazy guy to have such a crazy idea (which is likely) I’ll probably not want to investigate so much effort in that. I have until now only developed pure command line programs, so I am not familiar with graphical programs, not even using text mode only.
What does everyone think?
Best regards.