@comment $Id: gama-versions.texi,v 1.9 2005/08/24 14:45:13 cepek Exp $

GNU Gama is a project dedicated to adjustment of @emph{geodetic
networks}. It was formerly inspired by Fortran system Geodet/PC (1990)
designed by Frantisek Charamza. The GNU Gama project has been started
at the department of mapping and cartography, faculty of Civil
Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) about 1998 and
its name is an acronym for @emph{geodesy and mapping}.  It was
presented to wider public for the first time at FIG Working Week 2000
in Prague and then at FIG Workshop and Seminar at HUT Helsinki in
2001.

            @center   @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gama/}


GNU Gama is released under GNU General Public Licence and is based on
a C++ library of geodetic classes and functions and a
small C++ template matrix library @code{matvec}. For parsing XML
documents GNU Gama calls @code{expat} parser version 1.1 written by
James Clark. The @code{expat} parser is not part of the GNU Gama
project, but is used with GNU Gama.


GNU Gama currently contains two main development branches.  Stable
branch of the project is limited to network adjustment in a local
coordinate system and its functionality is represented by a command
line program @code{gama-local}.  Program @code{gama-local} adjusts
geodetic (free) networks of observed distances, directions, angles,
height differences, 3D vectors and observed coordinates (coordinates
with given variance-covariance matrix).


In the unstable development branch the adjustment model is based on
geocentric coordinate system (adjustment model on ellipsoid). Its
functionality is represented by command line program
@code{gama-g3}.  The stable branch is frozen but is being updated to
be compatible with the model of adjustment in geocentric coordinates.


Project Rocinante is the GNU Gama GUI for the adjustment in local
coordinate systems (stable branch; program @code{roci-local}) and is
based on the Qt graphical library. Rocinante is documented
separatedly, for more information see

         @center @uref{http://roci.sourceforge.net/}

@noindent Compiled executables of program @code{roci-local} corresponding 
to stable version @value{STABLEV} for Linux and Win32 can be downloaded from

         @center @uref{http://sourceforge.net/projects/roci/}


