A Concise Guide to Open Source GIS Software
I ran across a more diligent attempt to collect a list together than my own meagre attempt. It is here: http://opensourcegis.org/
This page contains my notes on what I am interested in.
Map servers
ArcIMS
(for comparison)
Current Version: 9.2
Home: http://www.esri.com/
Comments: closed source and expensive
GeoServer
Comments: (swiped from their site)
GeoServer supports WFS-T and WMS open protocols from the OGC to produce JPEG, PNG, SVG, KML/KMZ, GML, PDF, Shapefiles and more. More information on specific features of GeoServer can be found here, and some samples of GeoServer in action are in the gallery.
GeoServer is built on Geotools, the same Java toolkit that udig uses. GeoServer is a truly open community, with a well documented and modular codebase, so don't hesitate to get involved.
MapGuide
Current Version: 2.0.0 is in beta
Home: http://mapguide.osgeo.org/
Comments: (copied from their page)
"MapGuide Open Source is a web-based platform that enables users to quickly develop and deploy web mapping applications and geospatial web services. MapGuide features an interactive viewer that includes support for feature selection, property inspection, map tips, and operations such as buffer, select within, and measure. MapGuide includes an XML database for managing content, and supports most popular geospatial file formats, databases, and standards. MapGuide can be deployed on Linux or Windows, supports Apache and IIS web servers, and offers extensive PHP, .NET, Java, and JavaScript APIs for application development. MapGuide Open Source is licensed under the LGPL."
MapServer
Current version: 5.0
Home: http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/
Standards
Map server front ends
| name | frontend for |
| mapbender | mapserver |
| cartoweb | mapserver |
OpenLayers is a JavaScript front end that works with WMS and WFS servers. So it's not tied to one server.
Database Backends
MySQL PostgreSQL/Postgis
Desktop GIS
[gvSIG] Both desktop and mobile versions are available.
um. The Brazillian one? ... what was it called?
QGIS Quantum GIS
GPS
Data collection
Utilities
gpsbabel -- I use this command line utility regularly, both to transfer data between a computer and a GPS receiver and to convert between GPS data formats, it is very handy.
Other SDK's and Toolkits
| name | language | requires | |
| FDO | |||
| OGR/GDAL | C | Proj4 | |
| GeoTools | Java | JTS | http://geotools.codehaus.org/ |
| Grass | C | ||
| JTS | Java | ||
| OpenDMTP Open Device Monitoring and Tracking Protocol | |||
| OpenLayers | |||
| Proj4 | C | ||
| SharpMap | C# |
