If you’re running Linux and are on the road a lot or have a road trip coming up, you may want to take a look at RoadMap. This GPL software bills itself as a car navigation system and uses US Census Bureau maps as a base for navigation.

Let’s face it: digital maps are a lot easier to deal with than paper maps. Because your laptop’s always at hand, your maps are always at hand, even if you don’t have an available Internet connection. Punching in an address takes you straight to the location, saving you the time of poring over city streets and finding the nearest intersection. And route planning, of course, is a snap.

If you’re traveling very light, there are binaries available for the Zaurus and other ARM systems running Linux. The Zaurus port is identified as zRoadMap in the Zaurus Software Index, but it links you back to the same download page.

The map files are fairly hefty, reportedly coming in at around 30MB per state. This isn’t much for a laptop, but be prepared with a large SD or CF card for your Zaurus if you have to plan many state visits. If you’re traveling outside the United States, there are maps available but they do not carry the same accuracy as the US maps from the Census Bureau. Assuming, of course, the cartographers didn’t follow the old adage “close enough for government work.”