[Freegis-list] Defending the FreeGIS concept

[pradeep kumar]

Hi All,

The arguments for or against free/proprietary software
and GIS seems to really reach no end; this is
particularly so because people who would otherwise
make a hard analysis of the facts and figures seem to
give up doing that when it comes to questions of free
software. Proprietary software is alright, provided
one is comfortable with the idea of being fenced-in.

The steep learning curves of free software is really a
myth! Any intelligent person can come to grips with
free software and when it comes to GIS, GRASS despite
appearing formidable is infact very well stuctured and
logical. At least for me, who had never used a GIS
till a year back, GRASS presented the opportunity to
see the innards of a GIS. After struggling with
Geomedia it was a whiff of fresh air to come across
GRASS. What I believe is most of the complaints about
the free software and GRASS in general are mostly
because most users are reluctant to put in any effort
other than clicking a few buttons. And most users need
not in fact struggle with free software when all they
need is to get the work done with minimal effort, and
for which ready made solutions exist.

The concept of freedom somehow got entangled with the
concept of complexity. Freedom is complex, indeed ...
but once its had then there is no going back. The
lessening of the complexity of Free Software lies with
the user and not with any particular person. So each
person is infact a developer ... and its to be
appreciated that some really take it upon themselves
to develop free software, rather than just use it.

Any scientist doing work on Spatial Analyses and data
(so that covers almost the entire field of science)
cannot afford to give GRASS the go-by. The powerful
tools it has on its own, and also combined with other
software like R and the robustness of Linux etc, gives
it such scientific rigour and authenticity and
conviction that it ought to be the defacto
GIS/Statistical Anaylses/Modelling tool of every
scientist. If its not happening, then its not
something about steep learning curves, but rather
about unwillingness to deal with the unknown (thats a
real contradiction, since any scientific endeavour
seeks out the unknown or the less explained).

The question of defending free GIS is rather a tricky
one... the users of free GIS happily carry on using
it, and most were not induced into using it by any
advocacy but by pragmatic needs ("freedom" may also
have worked!); and when a need arises the most
difficult task gets tackled with gusto. All said and
done, GRASS could really do with a larger user base,
and it is upto each user to demonstrate its
capabilities. My colleagues in the Fachh. Stuttgart,
all of whom are ESRI-Intergraph users, have a keen
interest in GRASS after I installed and started using
it, and infact, have definite plans to start working
on it. There have been no complaints about steep
learning curves but rather appreciation of its power. 

But the fact remains that none of them would have
given GRASS a second glance unless there was somebody
in their midst actually using it!!

Cheers

Pradeep Kumar

Dept Geomatics, Computer Science and Mathematics
Fachh. Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany
anprs110 at mars.rz.fht-stuttgart.de

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