Noted. Thanks.
-----Original Message----- From: UMN MapServer Users List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jason Birch Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 1:45 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [UMN_MAPSERVER-USERS] MapServer Foundation - Open Letter Hi all, I'd like to bring my perspective into the discussion, as someone who is not part of the Mapserver community and has been brought in by the recent events. I work for the City of Nanaimo, but am not speaking for them officially in this email. We currently use MapGuide 6.5 as our "enterprise" mapping solution. I have a strong affinity for open source projects, and I have in the past downloaded Mapserver and taken the time to learn how to use it, evaluating it as a potential replacement for our current system. I was unable to make the business case because of some capability gaps between the two products. When I learned that Autodesk was granting its new product's code to the Mapserver Foundation I was elated (after I convinced myself that I wasn't hallucinating). Finally, I have a lever that allows me to promote and implement open source systems. In several cases, this is the only barrier I have to promoting a switch from Win2k3/MSSQL to Linux/PostGIS. I also can't wait until I can just pay a developer to add functionality to my web mapping application instead of having to either wait until the vendor decides to implement it or hacking around it myself with no benefit accruing to the other users of the software. I understand that there are huge issues with the community's loyalty and ownership of the Mapserver code and brand, and I don't think that this should be discounted. I also realize that I don't have any right to weigh in on this one way or another. What I would like to make clear is that having the Autodesk code as an open source web mapping tool really increases the number of organisations that will be looking at open source GIS. Will the new code directly contribute to Mapserver? I don't know; there are definitely some innovative designs and portions of the code that would be great additions to Mapserver. Would Autodesk going off on its own and releasing this code as open source have diminished the Mapserver community? I believe so. Each of the applications has their strengths, and like any addition to the open source project slate there would be some cannibalisation of current Mapserver users and contributors. This may happen anyway, but if they are both under the same organisation they can share in the contributions that the newly attracted users will be bringing with them. I have heard a lot of people comment on the size of the Autodesk code. That size is directly proportional to its potential functionality. If you doubt this, read through the as-yet-incomplete API documentation that is an optional install with the Web Extensions. There is huge potential there for data update, geoprocessing, spatial web services, and other items that would be difficult to implement with Mapserver. Those of you who take the time to understand the Autodesk code and expand your consulting and implementation services to incorporate this code base will ultimately benefit from using it where it is justified. I hope that you do because I (and others like me) will be looking for you in the near future. To address Gary Lang's question about MapGuide being a project of the Mapserver Foundation... Renaming the foundation would certainly address your concern and may be the best path to supporting additional open source projects, but I don't think that it's necessary. I for one believe that the new application can stand on its own merit, no matter its name. (For the record, I don't particularly like the MapGuide name as it's associated with the existing MapGuide application, and there is no comparison). Placing the application under the Mapserver Foundation would in no way diminish its inherent capabilities or suitability for applications where it is the correct choice for implementation. Respectfully, Jason Birch
