[Freegis-list] Re: [postgis-users] FOSS GIS suite project? (was Mandrake GIS)

[Wood Brent]

--- Maurizio Napolitano <napo at itc.it> wrote:
> I think that there are a lot of "GIS cd live", so is better concentrate
> all togheter on a only one to have always new packages.
> I think that geomorphix, for now, is a good solution: there are a lot
> of GIS software and some data
> Geomorphix come from the live cd morphix.
> This live cd is like Knoppix but gnome oriented.
> Like knoppix a user can have a permanent install on the hard disk.
> 
> For more info (and to contribute)
> http://www.geomorphix.org

Interesting site. Could you post some info about what exactly geomorphix is &
the project goals are?

As the one who instigated this thing, perhaps I should try to clarify exactly
what I'm envisaging.

There are at least 4 GIS oriented LiveCD's that I'm aware of. They are not
quite what I envisage, although they do serve a useful purpose. They do,
however serve as a OS straightjacket. Click to install to hard drive. You can't
easily install the GIS packages from a LiveCD to your SUSE/Fedora/Debian
install. Certainly not on Windows, even with Cygwin. So I don't see a live CD
as a suitable medium for supplying GIS software. Great for
teaching/demonstrating or GIS "appliances".

It sort of boils down to the GIS as a science/toolbox debate. Most GIS users
IMHO treat GIS as a toolbox. Developers more as a science. 

Commercial GIS products tend to be available as modular products, users
purchase the modules they require (or can afford :-) They find a base GIS
product with modules from available offerings, often based upon whatever they
have used before or recommended by others in their field. (I'm talking mainly
about science GIS users). Generally they aquire GIS much as an interoperable
suite of software packages.

FOSS GIS comprises a range of packages to do different things. For each role in
a GIS suite there may be more than one suitable package. Installation is NOT
the simple process generally available for commercial software suites.

What I believe is timely, is the repackaging of FOSS GIS packages as a suite. I
believe FOSS GIS is pretty much at a stage where a powerful and effective GIS
suite can be packaged up and provided to users who don't have to aquire 5-10+
different packages from various places and assemble them on their systems to
make a functuinal GIS suite.

I'm fully aware (and appreciate) that many of the packages (JUMP, QGIS, GRASS)
are undergoing frantic development right now, and adding to the potential power
of a GIS suite. I believe they are currently stable and functional enough to be
more than useful and effective.

Freegis provides access to the various FOSS GIS packages, but does not attempt
to bundle them into a suite, which I feel is the next step required to foster
the use of FOSS GIS & the growth of the FOSS GIS community.

I'm not sure how much of this sort of role the Cooperative GIS group are doing,
but perhaps that could be a good place to start.


Brent Wood