Open Source GIS The Future?

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Heather Cooper
10 years ago
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1 Open Source GIS The Future? Daniel Morissette DM Solutions Group Inc. Open Source Licensing No licensing costs Unlimited rights to: Use the software View and analyse the source Copy, reuse in other systems Modify, create derived products Distribute or publish copies Some licenses also include the right to sell and reuse in proprietary packages

and analyse the source Copy, reuse in other systems Modify, create derived products

2 Benefits of Open Source Software Access to source Enables development of highly customized applications based on client s needs Development priorities are driven by end-user needs No Licensing Fees Resources are allocated to building applications, not licensing multiple machines Benefits of Open Source Software Interoperability, adoption of Open Specifications Active users community Mailing lists Developers listening to users directly Issues can be resolved in-house Access to multiple support resources Frequent releases, new features and fixes quickly available

Benefits of Open Source Software Interoperability, adoption of Open Specifications Active users community Mailing lists Developers listening

3 Drawbacks of Open Source Software Limited documentation Software is in perpetual development Professional Support Myth: There is no professional support for Open Source software Companies built around Open Source software can be viable: Professional Support contracts Custom applications development (turnkey solutions) Implementation of new features or enhancements to support application developers

built around Open Source software can be viable: Professional Support contracts Custom applications

4 Interoperability Open Source Software is perfect to act as the glue between multiple proprietary systems No interest in locking the user into a single system Support for multiple file formats (GDAL/OGR, etc.) Wide adoption of Open Specifications: OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service (WMS) MapServer, GeoTools, InnovaGIS OGC Simple Features OGR, PostGIS FreeGIS Project Listing of Free GIS resources Free Software (139) Free Data (22) FreeGIS CD FreeGIS Tutorial Mailing list

) Wide adoption of Open Specifications: OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) Web Map Service (WMS) MapServer, GeoTools, InnovaGIS OGC Simple

5 Geospatial Data Access Library (GDAL/OGR) C++ Library Enables transparent access to image and vector formats GDAL: 30+ Image Formats TIFF, ECW, AIGRID, GRASS,... OGR: 10+ Vector Formats TAB, MIF, SHP, DGN, Arc/Info Coverages, OGDI, PostGIS, TIGER, SDTS, PostGIS Adds support for geographic objects and fast spatial indexing to PostgreSQL RDBMS Follows the OGC Simple Feature for SQL specification Strong spatial operators support with Java Topology Suite (JTS) integration (in development)

6 Other Data Access Libraries Shapelib: ESRI Shapefiles (C) MITAB: MapInfo TAB/MIF files (C++, C, VB, Delphi) Libtiff/Libgeotiff: GeoTIFF (C) DGNLib: Microstation DGN (C++) GML4J: OGC GML (Java) DIME: Autocad DXF (C++) SDTS++: USGS SDTS (C++) OGDI: Remote access to multiple formats (C) GRASS Developed by US CERL from 1982 to 1995 Distributed via Internet since version 4.0 in 1991 New development team and GNU Public License (GPL) in 1999 Scientific raster/vector GIS Modelling, Terrain Analysis, Image Rectification Unix, Windows, MacOSX, even ipaq

(C) GRASS Developed by US CERL from 1982 to 1995 Distributed via Internet since version 4.

7 Web Mapping Server-side: UMN MapServer MapIt! Client-side (Java applets): GeoTools OpenMap GIS Viewer Distributed Infrastructures Canadian Forest Service NFIS example: Limited budget for licensing software Spatial data holdings spread accross Canada Data in multiple GIS file and database formats Need to maintain and publish spatial data from anywhere

Canadian Forest Service NFIS example: Limited budget for licensing software Spatial

8 Distributed Spatial Infrastructure Using Open Source Software and Open Standards Conclusions Open Source GIS components are available now for use in real life projects Especially suitable for customized applications Open Standards becoming more widely adopted Professional support is available There is a rapidly growing and maturing Open Source community of users and developers

for customized applications Open Standards becoming more widely adopted Professional support

An Introduction to Open Source Geospatial Tools

An Introduction to Open Source Geospatial Tools by Tyler Mitchell, author of Web Mapping Illustrated GRSS would like to thank Mr. Mitchell for this tutorial. Geospatial technologies come in many forms,