Joanne Cook provided good insights into replacing ArcGIS software with
Open Source on the geowanking list recently.
http://lists.burri.to/pipermail/geowanking/2008-April/005117.html (and
copied below)
I'd love to see all this expertise collated into an ESRI/Open Source
comparison similar to the review of the Open Source clients at:
http://www.spatialserver.net/osgis/
Such a comparison could the be used to drive Migration to Open Source
plans and package development (as sponsors decide it is cheaper to add
their key features to Open Source than to go for a full ESRI license).
Has anyone started such comparisons yet that we could build upon?
Would this be best developed as a wiki book?
Joanne Cook wrote:
Hi Cameron,
We (Oxford Archaeology) are going through exactly that process at the moment, although we are replacing arcgis 9.2 rather than arcview. We are doing this primarily because changes in the licensing terms meant that we were no longer eligible for the educational discount, but it's part of a longer term move towards open source. We have spent some time investigating alternatives, and have a few contenders, and I'm sure we would be happy to advise, or provide a case study on this.
Basically we are looking at gvsig and qgis as the main options- gvsig because
it can use cad data, and qgis because we like the grass integration and it's
slightly more user-friendly for english speakers (the translated version of
gvsig still has some spanish bits in it). With slight changes to our
work-flows, we are finding that these two packages will do almost everything we
need a gis to do, with the exception of producing high-quality illustrations.
To achieve this we are currently looking at export to svg or postscript for
final editing in inkscape, but that's a work in progress.
George R. C. Silva wrote:
Im a real novice in the OS world, and i´m enjoying. I´m liking what i
see!
ESRI has good software, but the world of OS is just great and i love
the flexibility i have.
One thing GIS OS software could have are better editing tools. I do
miss them alot, and the one is ArcGIS are unbeatable (i dont know any
O.S. software that have 'autocomplete polygon', tons of snapping
options, etc - btw, if you do, let me know).
FOSS is great, but it lacks (IMHO) better editing options.
2cents
George Silva
David William Bitner escreveu:
I would agree with Paul. The biggest hole in the FOSS stack is in
easy, high quality printed map production. This is the one task
where the Arc tools beat anything I have seen in FOSS GIS hands down.
David
On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 3:36 PM, Paul Ramsey
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote:
I'd buck up for a copy of ArcView (much cheaper than ArcGIS), and
use
GRASS / PostGIS / etc tools for things like analysis. You can use
ArcView to generate the paper and do some quick low-end analytics
and
the other tools for more involved stuff.
My general synopsis: for server-side, for scriptability, for
automation, for web-based, open source wins for most use cases,
given
a technically savvy user; for ad hoc, for cartographic
production, for
a user who is used to a point-n-click experience end to end,
proprietary still wins.
This equation hasn't changed much in the 10 years I've been running
it. The goal posts have moved, open source is better at adhoc now
than
before, but still not at the level of ESRI, and ESRI is better at
the
server stuff now, but still not at the level of open source.
P.
On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 12:41 PM, Jennifer Horsman
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote:
> The thread that was started today with the subject "Your open
source career"
> got me thinking about asking a question that has been rolling
around in my
> head. This is pointed at those people who have experience with
ESRI products
> as well as OS GIS products.
>
> I have been a long-time user of ESRI products, but I want to
start my own
> contract business and will not be able to afford the license for
> ArcGIS/ArcInfo. So I recently set up a Linux box with GRASS
installed, but
> it has been over 10 years since I have used GRASS (it has
probably changed
> since then too!)
>
> Does GRASS have the same analysis and display capabilities as
ArcGIS? I
> know this is a very general question, so perhaps another
question would be
> where does GRASS fall short and where does it excel in
comparison to the
> ESRI products?
>
> Thanks,
> Jennifer
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Systems Architect
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
Think Globally, Fix Locally
Commercial Support for Geospatial Open Source Solutions
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