INDI For Linux

INDI is a cross-platform, freely distributed, open source, simple, small, and easy-to-parse software project, a non-interactive daemon that has been created from the ground up to act as an astronomical control protocol for GNU/Linux and UNIX-like operating systems. It is implemented in C/C++.

The software aims to provide an instrument neutral distributed interface control protocol that implements backend driver automation and support for a number of astronomical devices, including telescopes, focusers, and CCDs (Charge-coupled devices).

Currently supported devices include numerous telescopes, CCDs (Charge-coupled devices), filter wheels, focusers, and several video cameras. INDI is used in popular astronomy suites, including Xephem, KStars, DCD, and Cartes Du Ciel.

It also support various classes of astronomical instrumentation, can be easily nested with other XML protocols, and it is supported by a wide range of clients. At the moment, it has been tested on 32 and 64-bit systems. Detailed installation instructions are provided by Softpedia below.

Installing the INDI software on a GNU/Linux operating system is quite easy, as you will only have to download the latest source package from Softpedia, save the archive on your Home directory, extract its contents using an archive manager utility, and open a terminal window.

In the terminal window, run the ‘cmake .’ command to configure the program, assuming that all of its runtime dependencies have been installed (libnova, cfitsio, GSL), followed by the ‘make’ command to compile it.

After a successful compilation operation, you must run either of the ‘sudo make install’ or ‘make install’ command, depending if you’re a user with privileges or root, to install INDI system wide, making it available to all users on your computer. Detailed usage instructions are provided in the README file inside the source package.