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

[Tyler Mitchell]

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

I believe that the live boot CD's target a fundamentally different 
audience than what Brent and others are interested in.  "Live" cd's are 
awesome for demonstrating and in some cases adopting a certain 
distribution with these great tools readily available.  However, this does 
not address those who are not looking at changing distributions or 
operating systems and who just need access to the tools.

> What I believe is timely, is the repackaging of FOSS GIS packages asa 
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 with you.  There are great examples out there of how this can be done 
from various angles requiring varying degrees of complexity.  With a 
target of installing a few binary packages on a few platforms, we need to 
pick a set of pieces.  The increasingly typical process (download zip/tar, 
expand, run) is the place to start, then when ready it can be wrapped with 
various installers (if desired).  OpenEV_FW is the best example that comes 
to mind and it's proved on multi-platform already.

> 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.

I agree that maturity is not an issue.  We need a "distribution" of 
toolkits that users can choose from.  I envision something like a dinner 
menu with category choices like: database backend, analytical tools, 
visualization, publishing, etc.

> 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.

That is my paramount concern.  These excellent tools (by excellent 
developers) deserve wider distribution to, IMHO, a very willing audience 
who will benefit from the choice.
 
> I'm not sure how much of this sort of role the Cooperative GIS groupare 
doing,
> but perhaps that could be a good place to start.

I can't find any info about that project - I'll suggest that it appears to 
be dead - maybe that comment will elicit a response ;)

Tyler