[Freegis-list] Linux and GIS questions

[Wood Brent]

--- Andreas Antoniou <aantoniou1 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Dear list,
> 
>  
> 
> I would like your suggestions on the following questions:
> 
> What do I need to start using Linux?

Pretty much any PC with reasonable specifications and the CD's to install Linux
from. Linux is available in a variety of flavours, called distributions. There
are differences between distributions, if you are a novice perhaps Mandrake is
a bit more user friendly than most others.

A site like www.distrowatch.com may help you sort out a suitable distribution
to meet your needs.


You can get the Linux install CD's by downloading the CD iso images, buying a
commercial copy or getting a copy of the downloadable CD's. Such copies are
generally available from local Linux user groups (LUG) for a nominal fee.

This site has a pretty good listing of worldwide LUG's to see if there is one
near you. Auction sites like Yahoo & trademe also often have people selling
Linux CD's.

http://www.linux.org/groups/index.html

> 
> Where I can find information on using Linux under command line and graphics?

If you use a distribution like Mandrake, there is a lot of how-to documentation
& the Rute Linux manual included, which may provide more detail than you really
want. There are also many books available as introductions to using Linux, many
of which come with a version of Linux to install and use. The www.linux.org
site above also offers resources for Linux users, but again, if there is a
local LUG, it would be a good place to start.


> 
> What is the effort needed for operating GRASS or any other GIS under Linux?
> 

GRASS is pretty powerful & complex to set up & use for a novice Linux/GIS user.
There is a very good textbook available to help you learn if you do use GRASS,
in addition to a number of on-line GRASS tuorials and resources. It also comes
with a good sample dataset to help learn how to use it.

Packages like QGIS and JUMP are simpler to set up and use, but you may still
need to intall other software to really make them useful. (things like spatial
data management software, reformatting and reprojection software, etc. It may
be helpful to work out what data you want to work with and exactly what you
want to do with it before decising on the GIS software to use. eg: do you
already have the data, what format is it, do you want publication quality maps
produced, how much & what sort of analysis, etc.

All the Open Source GIS packages have mailing lists for users to provide
community support, it may be useful to browse the archives of these lists to
see the sorts of messages/topics to help assess the fit with your needs.



Brent Wood