[Freegis-list] Re: FOSS GIS suite project?

[Tyler Mitchell]

> Agreed. Frank Warmerdam replied to my message & we have swapped a few 
off-list
> emails discussing it. We thought a precompiled binary .tar.gz package
> comprising a range of interoperable FOSS GIS packages which can be 
simply
> installed into it's own tree and was distro independent was perhaps a 
better
> approach than a distro oriented one. 

I too agree with a distribution independent, binary package.  Part of the 
problem with many of the packages is where they put files, how to set env 
settings, etc. so I think that this approach would help alleviate those 
issues.  DM Solutions MS4W package has helped to prove the value of this 
approach with MapServer on Windows at least.  Also, Frank's OpenEV_FW 
packages are an excellent embodiment of packaging too.

I do not believe it should be limited to a tar.gz type of distribution 
though. Once a solid, predictable setup is designed, then others should 
feel free to re-package into the appropriate distribution formats (source, 
RPM, deb, MSI, etc.) based on their platform.

> The idea was to provide a suite of GIS software (data management, query,
> reformat, topology, reproject, GUI, web mapping server/client, etc) 
ready to
> install and supplied as interoperable components with a sample 
dataset(s). 

Good idea, count me in.  This is something I really want to see happen and 
am willing to take as active a role as possible.

Tyler