Is there not a precompiled Postgis package you can use? There are a few dependencies, the PROJ.4 libraries you are missing enable projection support, and the package tools automatically manage such dependencies. I know packages are well supported for Debian, Ubuntu/Mint/etc, Suse & Fedora. See: http://trac.osgeo.org/postgis/wiki/UsersWikiInstall Brent Wood Programme leader: Environmental Information Delivery NIWA DDI: +64 (4) 3860529 ________________________________________ From: pgsql-general-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [pgsql-general-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] on behalf of Olivier Chaussavoine [olivier.chaussavoine@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2013 10:17 PM To: John R Pierce Cc: pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: earthdistance As a simple potential user, I tried to install PostGIS, downloaded all libraries required: proj-4.8.0, gdal-1.10.0,json-c,postgis-2.0.3,geos-3.3.8,libwml2-2.9.0, and tried to build the first library with the simple procedure: ./configure make make install I had a fatal error: make[2]: entrant dans le répertoire « /home/olivier/ob/proj-4.8.0/src » /bin/bash ../libtool --tag=CC --mode=compile gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -DPROJ_LIB=\"/usr/local/share/proj\" -DMUTEX_pthread -g -O2 -MT jniproj.lo -MD -MP -MF .deps/jniproj.Tpo -c -o jniproj.lo jniproj.c libtool: compile: gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -DPROJ_LIB=\"/usr/local/share/proj\" -DMUTEX_pthread -g -O2 -MT jniproj.lo -MD -MP -MF .deps/jniproj.Tpo -c jniproj.c -fPIC -DPIC -o .libs/jniproj.o jniproj.c:52:26: fatal error: org_proj4_PJ.h: No such file or directory compilation terminated. problem out of the scope of this list, and probably not /difficult. Since I look for a simple geographic indexing using imprecise lat,long coordinates that do not deal with precise modeling; that I am afraid of long install procedure, and heavy computations, I also give up. Spacial mysql indexing seems to be included in pre-built packages. What can we do? 2013/8/10 John R Pierce <pierce@xxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:pierce@xxxxxxxxxxxx>> On 8/9/2013 5:18 PM, Brent Wood wrote: You might install Postgis to implement very powerful spatial functionality that can easily do what you are asking (plus a whole lot more). indeed, PostGIS is the logical answer, but the OP specifically stated he wanted the functionality without 'sophisticated geographic systems'. so I ignored the question. the alternative would be implementing your own spherical geometry functions, and hook them up to GiST indexing, its not that hard, but by the time you got all the functionality you need, you'd be half way to PostGIS, so why fight it? -- john r pierce 37N 122W somewhere on the middle of the left coast -- Olivier Chaussavoine -- Please consider the environment before printing this email. NIWA is the trading name of the National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd. -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general