GeoServer
Home page: http://geoserver.org/
2009 Feb 06 -- I decided to take a crack at installing GeoServer 1.7.2 today.
2011 Oct -- I am working with 2.1.2 now
"GeoServer is a Java-based software server that allows users to view and edit geospatial data. Using open standards set forth by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), GeoServer allows for great flexibility in map creation and data sharing."
The crucial feature is that it allows edits via WFS-T. Mapserver does not.
WFS-T comments: http://weblogs.java.net/blog/2006/01/09/geoserver-wfs-t
Overview
At this point I have installed GeoServer 2.1.2 on HuPI.org, using the WAR file and Tomcat 7. It's running on the Oracle Java JRE.
Tomcat shuts down randomly at the moment. Not too worried since I am just testing.
I have looked at the sample data ("Whitefish") that is included. Next step is to get some of my own data loaded.
Sample GeoServer site
The Portland TriMet system map is on GeoServer via the OpenGeo stack.
This is from the Portland Trimet site... GeoServer, OpenLayers, TileCache, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, GDAL, Extjs, Freemarker, Solr, Antlr, Balance Ant, Http Client, Tomcat, Apache, and Cent OS are the underlying technologies used on this application. We're indebted to the contributors of these (and many other: eclipse, firefox and firebug to name a few) open source projects for sharing their efforts and expertise.