[Thuban-list] export to APR ?

[Matt Wilkie]

>> Are there plans of creating an exportAPR extension similar to
 >> importAPR ?
> 
> Would it make sense to offer a migration path towards proprietary 
> software?

Absolutely.

One of the biggest bug-bears of my GIS life has been man-handling data 
from one format to another; from one program to another. As a result I 
am extremely leary of *any* program which is easy-to-import combined 
with hard-to-export. At this level it doesn't matter a whit to me if the 
software is Libre or Closed. Protestations of "but the source code is 
available, you can always write your own driver" don't apply to me. I am 
not a programmer and neither are any of our GIS-using staff (about 30 
people).

I think your question should be phrased differently. It is not a 
"migration path" towards proprietary software. It is "seamless 
interaction path" with proprietary software.

I am able to use and justify a linux server on our Windows network 
because it seamlessly handles data in both directions via SAMBA. I can 
install and use an Apache webserver because I can demonstrate it runs 
equally well on both Windows and Linux servers. Indeed I have migrated 
the same website from linux to windows and back to linux without anybody 
being the wiser.  GDAL Utilities are my raster conversion tool of choice 
because I can use them from any system avaialble to me, most of which 
are Windows 2k and XP based.

cheers,

-- 
matt wilkie
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