Lets face it, GIS systems are complicated. Typically there are multiple servers and applications that make up a “system”. Each of these represent a potential point of failure, thus creating a brittle system. Brittle systems break. The definition of the word brittle is:
GIS data is like an illicit drug. You can’t control it. It travels in secret and hides in the dark alleys of your organization. Its effect spreads and enslaves those that use it. In the end it can lead to ruin. Read the rest of this entry »
In this day of GUI GIS, sometimes you can’t beat the good old command line for getting a job done, regardless of whether you use Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, or Windows. This may sound strange coming from someone heavily invested in a GUI project but its true. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the often overlooked support mechanisms for Open Source GIS applications is Internet Relay chat, better known as IRC. Many OS GIS projects maintain an IRC presence. Often times you will find the project developers hanging out on the channel and willing to answer questions (more about that in a bit). Speaking personally, the Quantum GIS project has used IRC for project coordination, communication, and user support for several years.
This is an unofficial recap of the OSGF meeting, based on my recollections having spent 10 hours on IRC and the phone. I’m sure the foundation will release an official version of the day’s events, so take my comments with a grain of salt.
As I stated in an earlier post, the name was chosen early on and without an excessive amount of debate. OSGF rolls off the tongue rather easily and has a nice ring to it. Read the rest of this entry »
Well, I have been participating in the “GeoFoundation” Meeting since 5:30 am local time this morning. We’re two hours into the meeting and so far a name for the foundation has been agreed upon:
Open Source Geospatial Foundation.
The domain osgeo.org has been registered. I suppose most folks will refer to it as OSGF from this point on, although the term OsGeo was also mentioned in the discussions.
I was concerned that the name of the foundation would become a major stumbling block in making progress during the meeting, however the groundwork and informal polll seems to have paid off in that regard.
Discussion of benefits and expectations has gone around the table and input is being solicited from those participating by IRC.
You can view the IRC transcript at http://logs.qgis.org/geofoundation
Pictures of the event can be found at http://www1.mapserverfoundation.org/chicago-pics/images.html
I use Linux and OS X as my primary operating systems. Lately I have been using the Powerbook exclusively with ssh or FreeNx to work on the Linux machines on the network.
I started off to simply repartition my Powerbook and then reinstall OS X and put Ubuntu on the new partition. That was two days ago. Things are pretty much back to normal now. I have a dual boot system that I can take with me and run my favorite GIS software on both platforms as needed.
Read the rest of this entry »
One of my pet peeves is software the “yanks the rug” out from under you. There seems to be a lot of this going around, mainly in the commercial world. What do I mean?
You spend a lot of time designing and developing GIS systems, only to have one of the key features you use “disappear” or radically change in the next version of the software. Often the response is “simply convert to xyz” or something similar. Unfortunately this is easier said than done. For projects dealing in gigabytes or terabytes of processed data, starting over is not an option.
Does this happen in the Open Source world? Probably, however I think that the community support in the OS world is far superior to that in the commerical software world. Paying for support is one thing, having features you absolutely need removed without warning is another.
This site aims to bring out some of the latest and sometimes not-so-greatest happenings in the GIS world. We’ll focus to large extent on Open Source software but hopefully mix it up to keep things interesting. We’ll explore things from the new and exciting to the dull and mundane.
There are a lot of GIS/Spatial sites out there. Hopefully we can provide some content of interest and you will add this one to those you visit frequently.
—-
Gary Sherman
http://qgis.org
http://mrcc.com
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