Limits
Read this before downloading. If something is missing after installation, you should have had the chance to know beforehand.
Version 0.9.58
What remains unfinished in this pre-release
No reported bug is currently open. That does not mean there are no bugs; it means nobody has found them yet.
Being revised
Some views have fewer details
Sessions currently lacks its seven-column overview. The application’s home view lacks “Continue where you left off” and “Strongest month”. Capture configurations have returned as the project’s Capture tab.
The underlying figures are still calculated and tested. These omissions do not lose data; the views are awaiting a decision about where they belong.
Deferred
No measurements from image pixels
The planner and assessment are model estimates from site, moon, target and described filters. There are no measurements of background, noise, clipping, absolute sky brightness, focus (HFR or FWHM), tracking or weather.
Whether pixel measurements will be added is undecided. Figures from the model are labelled as model estimates.
Two exceptions
Two features do use the internet
No account, no server, no telemetry. There are still two optional network connections.
Location selection loads OpenStreetMap tiles and searches places through Nominatim.
Target and field loads a sky cutout from the hips2fits service at CDS Strasbourg and caches it locally.
These services receive your IP address and the queried place name or sky coordinate. Neither connection is required: enter coordinates manually and view the same field geometry over an empty background when offline.
Importing, organizing, assessment, quarantine, export, calibration, planning and the Backup manager do not require internet services. Backups write only to your selected folders, including network shares on your own network.
Backup manager
What the Backup manager does not provide
A backup tool needs to be clear about what it can prove before you entrust data to it.
No encryption
Encryption is deliberately not planned: recovery would depend on a key that itself needs a backup. Files at the destination are unencrypted, and catalogue copies contain saved application settings and connection details. Protect the destination yourself, for example through access permissions or an encrypted drive.
No cloud or provider APIs
Destinations are folders on local or mounted network drives. FITSORA does not connect to storage providers or cloud services.
No proof of off-site protection
A same-drive copy does not protect against that drive failing. “Another drive” only means another drive as reported by the operating system. It does not prove that partitions, a RAID or a NAS are independent, or that a copy is off site.
No recovery guarantee
Checksums, integrity checks and recovery tests document what FITSORA read and compared. The destination can fail afterwards, and a recovery test covers only its sample. You know a version can be restored only once you have restored it.
Protection applies within your profile
Protected versions, trash and locks operate within your FITSORA profile. They do not prevent external changes, ransomware damage or loss of the profile. Locks coordinate only processes of the same profile. Do not let other profiles, computers or programs work on a destination during cleanup.
Coverage is not verification
Coverage compares stored evidence with file sizes and timestamps. It cannot detect changes that preserve both. Only an integrity check rereads every backed-up file.
Only catalogued data
Backups cover catalogued raw exposures with calibration and sidecars, optionally the catalogue and catalogued processing results. Unknown files are excluded. Native window settings are not part of a catalogue copy.
Conditions for background tasks
Windows requires your logged-in user account and an awake computer. There is no service and no execution after sign-out. There are no drive-connection triggers, unattended cleanup or automatic relinking after recovery. The uninstaller does not remove the scheduled task.
Acceptance testing is incomplete
The Backup manager has been tested with synthetic files, isolated profiles and automated tests. Real USB drives and NAS shares, installs and updates across Windows machines, and use with accessibility tools still need acceptance testing. You may encounter something the tests missed.
Five differences that are easy to confuse
- “Copy raw data” is not a backup version
- The assistant writes ordinary file copies to a folder. It creates no managed, versioned backup, schedule or coverage in the Backup manager. You manage these copies yourself.
- A database copy does not back up images
- It protects the catalogue and your decisions, rather than the image archive. Raw images need a backup job or a file copy.
- Coverage is not a fresh integrity check
- Copy evidence compares recorded evidence with current file sizes and timestamps. It does not reread the files. “Check integrity” is a separate action that reads and compares every backed-up file again.
- The same drive does not protect against its failure
- Copies on the drive holding the originals appear in blue and do not count as protection against that drive failing. Green means only a different drive as reported by the operating system. It does not prove that two partitions, a RAID or a NAS are physically independent, or that a copy is off site.
- Incomplete means incomplete
- If unreadable originals leave files missing, the version is marked “Incomplete”. You can restore and check it, but it has no verification date and never counts as a complete backup.
Scope
What FITSORA is not
Not a stacker
FITSORA does not stack or compute images. It prepares the selection for the tool you already use.
Not an image editor
No stretching, denoising or star removal. Use PixInsight, Siril or APP for those tasks.
Not capture control
It does not drive a mount or trigger a camera. It follows N.I.N.A., APT or Ekos in the workflow.
No cloud or collaboration
No account, shared projects or synchronization between computers. One archive, one computer, one database.
Windows only, for now
The current package is for Windows 10 version 1809 (build 17763) or later and Windows 11 on Intel/AMD x64 machines. Windows on ARM and 32-bit Windows are outside acceptance testing.
macOS: The current version with the Backup manager awaits Mac testers and acceptance testing. Each platform’s package must be built and checked on that platform. The earlier Apple Silicon version 0.9.31 remains available, clearly separated on the download page, without the Backup manager or promises of later features.
Linux: There is no Linux package. FITSORA is a hobby project, and without a regularly tested Linux machine a release would be a claim rather than a verified delivery. Cross-platform code is development work, rather than an accepted download.
Unsigned
The Windows installer has no code signature or verified publisher identity. SmartScreen may warn when it starts. A certificate has ongoing costs for this free personal project.
The download page gives the checksum and explains the warning without asking you to turn off Windows or antivirus protection.
No support promise, but an inbox
FITSORA is developed alongside a day job. There is no response-time commitment, warranty or promise to fix reported bugs. Feedback is welcome, especially with a self-check report attached.