Introduction

Ubuntu users seeking Astrology software for Linux often end up using Windows application through Wine. Whilst many such applications work well in Wine there are also native astrology programs available in the Ubuntu repository. A brief overview of the native astrology application follows.

Native Linux apps

Astrolog

You can install native Astrolog version (5.40) from Ubuntu repository. Type in a terminal:

sudo apt-get install astrolog

The program has many functions, but the main disadvantage is its spartan interface. To launch program, type astrolog. In the foloowing, you will type things like day, month, year, time zone, latitude and longitude etc. The output will be text-only. If you want graphic chart, type astrolog -X instead. There are many more switches (like -X) and options (configuration file- astrolog.dat should be modified). Configuration file can by copied i.e. from Windows version and you can adapt it to suit your needs. Refer to astrolog help file or official documentation.

OpenAstro.org

Openastro.org is an open source fully featured astrology software developed on Ubuntu. You can download ready made binaries or add the repository from www.openastro.org. Below is a screenshot of the main interface.

openastro.org-1.1.0-a.jpg

Mindmeld

Mindmeld is an open-source Python based astrology library that allows simple calculation of Grant Lewi numbers, Jan Spiller, Chinese astrology lookups, as well as numerology based on Dan Millman's book on the subject. An interesting subproject tries to correlate Myers-Briggs type results with astrology information using known celebrities and some data mining. Explanation for all type results are under development tree. Mindmeld aims to be a drop-in library for any astrological information and tool development. Home page: http://github.com/skorsky12/mindmeld

Other linux programs

Maitreya

Maitreya is oriented mainly at vedic (indian) astrology, but also basic western chart techniques are supported. Home page: http://saravali.de/maitreya/index.html http://sourceforge.net/projects/maitreya/ Application is not in repository, also no binaries are (yet) available, so compilation from source code will be necessary.

Update: Binaries are now available. A detailed step by step installation guide can be found at http://makegadgetswork.blogspot.com/2010/03/install-maitreya-vedic-astrology_22.html

Skylendar

Skylendar is succesor of Kastrolog, these also Astrolog derivatives. KAstrolog cannot probably be installed because its dependencies on old QT libraries (?), while Skylendar is newer, unformately there are no binaries or packages, again compilation is necessary. This is only for experienced users (compilation). Author has on its pages special Ubuntu binary (skylendar.bz.2), but this one file is not enough for program to run. So, if you are not experienced Linux administrator or have not such acquaintance, I would not recommend to fiddle with this. Better try Astrolog32, which has also more functions. Home page: http://skylendar.kde.org/

Software that will run with Wine

It is necessary to have Wine installed so first of all,

Read Wine.

Jagannath Hora

Available at http://www.vedicastrologer.org/jh/

This is a Vedic Astrology software and in terms of the range of calculations available, technical depth and breadth, level of customizability of calculations and ease of use, Jagannatha Hora is unsurpassed by any contemporary Vedic astrology software package. Detailed list of features can be found at the following link:

http://www.vedicastrologer.org/jh/features.htm

Detailed Step by step installation on Ubuntu are available at this link:

http://makegadgetswork.blogspot.com/2010/05/jagannath-hora-on-linux-play-on-linux.html

Astrolog32

Astrolog32 is based on original Walter Pullen version and ads some enhancements like advanced search funcion (see screenshot), long filename support, built-in precise Swiss Ephemeris etc.

Homepage: http://www.orionsoft.cz/astrolog32/cz/

Older 1x version: http://uk.geocities.com/astrolog32/

Tips, trics

if program cannot find its configuration file (astrolog32.dat)-i.e. you save your configuration with option File → Save current settings, close program and run it again and well, program runs with old setting . If this is your case, try to copy file ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ files/Astrolog32/main/astrolog32.dat directly to your home folder, i.e /home/frank. (cp ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ files/Astrolog32/main/astrolog32.dat ~/frank)