GPS World

Tag: GIS software

  • Reader Response on Open Source and Mobile Devices

    I’ve received some great reader response from readers regarding my articles on open source GIS and mobile devices. I’ve included them in this week’s column along with my comments.

    Open Source GIS

    As you can read below, the comments are directed at my statement regarding technical support for open source GIS software. I wrote that, essentially, “you’re on your own” to find solutions to technical problems and implied that open source GIS software support is not as good as commercial GIS software due to the lack of accountability. These readers clearly disagree and are passionate about the responsiveness of the user community and commercial support for open source GIS software.

    By way of background, following are links to two articles I’ve written in the past two months on open source GIS that the readers are referring to:

    May 17, 2012 – Open Source GIS

    May 24, 2012 – Open Source GIS: Part II

    Hi, Eric.

    Thanks for your paper. Please avoid spreading old FUD such as:

    There’s no accountability, no priority tech support, no one to call when you can’t figure out why things aren’t working, etc. You’re on your own, sort of.

    Which is plainly false. e.g., for QGIS, there are a number of companies that provide first class support, of far higher quality (having access to source code) than you can get for proprietary software, at favourable rates.

    By spreading such wrong opinions you actually damage, even if unwillingly, our work, and the open source ecosystem.

    All the best.

    Paolo – Italy

    Hi there, Eric.

    I would just like to mention my own personal experience and view on your statement about being on my own when using Open Source GIS software.

    I am using both commercial and open source in my organization, I pay quite a bit for the commercial support in the form of an annual maintenance fee. I don’t pay anything for support for the open source products I use, not because there aren’t any offerings, but it is more difficult do convince my company´s hierarchy to buy the same kind of annual support contract for open source products.

    Now, even under these circumstances, I get more results from the “unofficial” open source support from mailing lists then from the commercial support contract.

    Let me give you some examples on commercial support:

    1. I discovered, to my surprise, the latest version of the commercial product didn’t support wms services on computers with international settings (comma instead of dot as decimal separator). I waited a year and a half for that)
    2. I have found that the commercial product is 100% slower (half the speed) with a supported database product than the open source equivalent. The support told me that it was the database’s fault (which was aggravating). I had to log the sql statements and prove them wrong. I’m still waiting for a solution. There is no guarantee this will be solved. I was informed an enhancement request was filled but it is not publicly viewable.

    On the other hand, I had some problems with the open source product, without any support contract. I’m seeing a quick release cycle that solves a good portion of known bugs and problems, almost always solving my problem in the process. But the best thing that happened to me is when my particular bug is fixed under 24h and I can immediately download the fixed version. I even had a situation where I needed a new feature and someone developed an initial version in a week. A day later, one of the main developers included a similar feature in the core of the program.

    So, really, stating you are on your own when using open source products is really just not true and really a disservice to your audience when you state that so firmly.

    From my own experience, I am convinced there is a problem with changing our usual procedures. Instead of buying a product that includes one year of some kind of support (many times ineffective), and  then paying a fee annually, we must switch to using a free product, whose cost is that when we change it for the better we contribute that back to the rest of the users. And we can and should buy commercial support when our usage pattern reaches the level when it makes sense to acquire this type of contract.

    Thank you for your article. Other than this particular point, I enjoyed reading it.

    Best regards,

    Duarte – Portugal

     

    Dear Mr. Gakstatter,

    It’s great to see open source GIS featured in gpsworld.com (98.27.162.175/gpsworld.com) but I cannot agree with the following statement:

    “there’s limited amount of technical support available to implement and maintain the apps”

    There are both very professional companies (redacted) and enthusiastic communities behind any of the graduated OSgeo projects.

    As you mentioned correctly, one main issue is “market awareness” concerning open source GIS. Another issue is the very limited marketing budgets which makes it difficult to push the message and articles claiming lacking support are unfortunately not encouraging the average user to look into open source.

    I really appreciate that you picked up the topic of open source, I’d just  hope that correct pointers the the many support possibilities would be included.

    Best wishes,

    Anita – Austria

     

    I just read your article on Open Source GIS, dated May 17, 2012. I agree that it will be interesting to see where FOSS GIS goes in the future, I have to question your view on support.  I have been a user of proprietary GIS and image processing software for 10 years (from ArcView 2 through present day ArcGIS 10.1, ERDAS IMAGINE, ENVI, MapInfo etc…) and I have to say that I have received MUCH better “technical support” the past two years with FOSS products than I ever had with the other proprietary products.  Many of the FOSS packages have excellent document and reference websites (could be because these are built by the developer s and users alike, and added to continuously.)  There are also a large number of blogs and other websites documenting steps in these packages.  Additionally, the email lists are incredible.  I can usually find what I need WITHOUT having to call someone!  In the past, I was a heavy user of ESRI Knowledge Forums, which I thought was great when I started. ESRI staffers did not post as much as you would like. Numerous questions would go months or years without an answer or post by ESRI. The numbers of qualified people posting to the ESRI forums and email lists were far outnumbered by the users and were less responsive when needed. Maybe there is also a factor that is you recived software and support for free, then you’re more willing to help others. As well, being a tech support person myself for many years, I can attest that many ESRI/ArcGIS users do not understand much about GIS and cannot answer may questions posted. There are of course, local user groups, but many are specific to their needs. IT was tough in the ESRi world to get support than in the FOSS world.

    One last comment is the adoption of gvSig. Quantum GIS has really taken off and is the primary FOSS GIS desktop people use. MapWindow also is becoming very popular and used heavily by US federal govt related groups. Both of which feel closer to traditional GIS. gvSig is also a little different in its feel and use.

    John – Delaware USA

     

    I’d like to thank these folks for taking the time to write about their experiences. I’m going to continue to investigate, understand, and start using open source GIS to gain a feel for it. Initially, my interest in open source GIS was focused on mobile apps, such as gvSig Mobile, but I also see there’s an effort to develop Quantum GIS Mobile for Android, which could be very interesting given the tremendous adoption of Android in mobile devices. Also, the website agenda doesn’t reflect it yet, but I’ve added a keynote speaker on open source GIS to the 2012 Field Technology Conference general plenary. It’s important for the GIS user community to understand what’s available.

     

    Operating System Wars: Android, iOS or Windows Mobile?

    I also received an email from a reader regarding my series on mobile devices and operating systems. I’ve written a few articles on this subject recently. In fact, an article titled “Expert Advice: Mobile Computing on the Rise” will be in the GPS World print magazine in the July issue, which is what the following reader email is referring to. For more background, refer to the following articles:

    April 27, 2012 – Mobile Device Operating System Wars: Android vs. iOS vs. Windows Mobile

    May 10, 2012 – Thoughts on Mobile Devices, UAVs, and Cheap Data-Collection Software

    July 4, 2012 – Mobile GIS Webinar Follow-up and the New Google Nexus 7 Tablet

     

    Eric,
    Just read your July 1 article “Expert Advice: Mobile Computing on the Rise.” Seems every time you write on mobile I feel compelled to send you an email follow up. This time’s no exception.
    I too remember the Grid computer days when a tablet’s heft was in tons, handwriting recognition involved mystical templates that helped you shape your letters just so with the stylus, screen visibility outdoors was essentially non-existent and battery life diminished at the same rapid rate as water evaporating in the southwestern desert sun on a 115 degree day. I absolute agree that WinMobile’s future is questionable and even if that OS does manage to avoid emulating dinosaurs it will likely remain relegated to professional uses only with high price points both for hardware to run that OS and for the software that makes owning a device powered by it marginally worthwhile. Ruggedized hardware is the best thing going for WinMobile in my mind and I believe that’s all that can save it from becoming fossilized. But that advantage is beginning to resemble the Garmin/TomTom legacy losing traction nowadays.
    Where we differ, however, is that I’m already willing to go WAY out on the limb and give the trophy for victory in the mobile war to Android devices. Here’s why.
    My first smartphone was an Apple iPhone 3GS and when it came time to move up to a new phone, I wrestled quite a long time between Samsung Android-based offerings and the very new at that time Apple 4s. If you guess that I went for the Android for my second smartphone and that’s why I’m emailing you, you’d be wrong. Although I absolutely hate several limitations of iOS-based phones (no removable battery, throttling back to near non-existence of Bluetooth by Apple, and zero removable storage specifically), I went iOS yet again primarily because of Siri (which I’ve not been that thrilled with) and the fact I already had many iOS apps that I’d paid for and understood how to use.
    But when it came time to buy my first non-Windows (… and I’m not talking WinMobile) tablet, I reversed course totally. I purchased a Toshiba Thrive which I really love. I don’t even bother to pack my Win7 laptop for most business trips nowadays. I have a small twelve inch laptop case with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard and I just grab the Thrive and the case and I’m good to go. When I first got the Android OS tablet, many of the apps that were readily available in iOS were not there. By that I’m not talking about DropBox or the Weather Channel app … I’m taking specialized category level not there. I was blown away, for example, that I couldn’t find a camera app that geotagged photos taken with the Thrive. Over time, however, that gap has narrowed so it’s far less a factor and I really like the fact that I can take my 128 GB SDXC chip on which I have all my geospatial professional, university teaching and personal files and pop it out of my work Win7 laptop and into the Thrive and head out across the county. QuickOffice lets me read MS Office docs and make changes on the go. Right now, I’d not trade my year and a half old Thrive for a new retina display iPAD even if Apple paid me what the new IPAD costs if I had to give up my Thrive.
    Knowing that just my enthusiasm about someday being able to take a terabyte of geospatial data on an Android tablet with me to the field will probably not convince you to join my declaration of victory, I’ll finally get to the point of this email.
    The fact is that MANY vendors are introducing this summer ruggedized Google-based tablets. Contrast that to the fact that iPADs will always have to be encased in some kind of protective shell. That’s the piece of the story that I think you missed. To me this is a very big deal. A Panasonic Toughbook Android offering compared to the delicate iPAD for use in my geography is a no brainer. I also don’t expect to see too many daylight optimized iPAD screens coming out anytime soon from Apple.  Also MIA in your piece was easy of development.  Friends and I are building a new geospatial apps company and so we’ve been done a bit of development on both Android and iOS. So far we’ve used Flash Builder and created FLEX-based apps just by checking the two appropriate boxes for iOS and Android Mobile. Then it came time to test the apps. I can tell you that the venture capital sized fee required, the CDC DNA sample, TSA full body scan and NSA screening one must endure plus the length of Apple’s approval process to be able to just push a simple test app out to a few devices from iTunes compared to the far more pleasurable experience fielding a test Google app leave me never wanting to write again for iOS. And then there are the UDIDs for every darn iOS device you plan on testing your code on. Developing on iOS is a royal pain compared to Android. Pain of development is the second thing not in your write up.
    Yes I find the lack of being able to create a folder unifying programs of a general type (telecom apps, office apps, etc.) on one of the Thrive’s home screens to be a bit of a pain but I really like being able to switch out my Thrive’s battery when I need a new one or I need one that’s freshly charged to head out into the field.
    So … I predict loudly (because unlike you I have nothing to lose in doing so), Google will win the field mobile race beating Apple as you said but I’m thinking more like three years and I believe ruggedized hardware designed specifically for field use that cost more than a Thrive but far less than a Getac Win7 convertible or a Trimble GeoXT will be a key factor in that victory.  And if ArcPAD for Android or a Trimble GeoXT with Android comes out…best get out of the way ‘cause a Tsunami’s coming.
    Keep up the great articles and I hope you find my thinking interesting,
    Larry – West Virginia USA

     

    I largely agree with Larry. I think the mobile operating system war will likely be won by Android (market research predictions support this), and Windows Embedded Handheld might end up being the choice for “professional” users. Why? It’s all about the apps. Of course, there are tons of professional apps written for Windows Mobile (Windows Embedded Handheld will run them) and we’re starting to see geospatial apps being written for Android. Yes, there are geospatial apps written for iOS too, but if you look at the potential upside, I keep hearing that Apple just isn’t a developer-friendly environment, and as Larry mentions, Apple will always be focused on the consumer market, so don’t expect a ruggedized version of the iPad anytime soon. However, on the flip side, one Apple developer relayed to me that it’s very helpful that Apple retains strict control over app development for iOS devices:

    “When Apple upgrades IOS, it is pushed out to all devices (pad/pod/phone) and the updates are very well documented in terms of what changed. He said users just agree and they all get it, very rarely does someone say no to the upgrade. So, you have basically one version to program for/test at a time. Long story short, you only have to program the different screens and the rest is standardized. The info is there to tell you what the device is, so it is easy to have one app look diff or add something for a pad w/larger screen than on the phone.

    For android, the OS is open, so every manufacturer and/or provider and every different phone from them can have a different/unique OS. It starts out the same but some add features others don’t and most modify the code to suit their needs. Then, upgrades only happen if the manufacturer and/or provider decide they want to upgrade them and which ones (old phones might not get upgraded for example).  So, lots of Androids out there are not on the same/most current OS. Users can’t just do upgrade themselves, a generic version might not work right on their phone and most people don’t look for upgrades anyway.”

    Over the next six months, it’s going to be really interesting to watch what kid of geospatial apps are introduced for iOS and Android. That will be the main driver behind the adoption of mobile devices based on iOS and Android. It will also be interesting to watch how many new devices are introduced that are running Windows Embedded Handheld/Windows Mobile.

     

    Again, thanks to the readers for taking time to write and stimulate further discussion on this fascinating subject.

     

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • Reader Response on Open Source and Mobile Devices

    I’ve received some great reader response from readers regarding my articles on open source GIS and mobile devices. I’ve included them in this week’s column along with my comments.

    Open Source GIS

    As you can read below, the comments are directed at my statement regarding technical support for open source GIS software. I wrote that, essentially, “you’re on your own” to find solutions to technical problems and implied that open source GIS software support is not as good as commercial GIS software due to the lack of accountability. These readers clearly disagree and are passionate about the responsiveness of the user community and commercial support for open source GIS software.

    By way of background, following are links to two articles I’ve written in the past two months on open source GIS that the readers are referring to:

    May 17, 2012 – Open Source GIS

    May 24, 2012 – Open Source GIS: Part II

    Hi, Eric.

    Thanks for your paper. Please avoid spreading old FUD such as:

    There’s no accountability, no priority tech support, no one to call when you can’t figure out why things aren’t working, etc. You’re on your own, sort of.

    Which is plainly false. e.g., for QGIS, there are a number of companies that provide first class support, of far higher quality (having access to source code) than you can get for proprietary software, at favourable rates.

    By spreading such wrong opinions you actually damage, even if unwillingly, our work, and the open source ecosystem.

    All the best.

    Paolo – Italy

    Hi there, Eric.

    I would just like to mention my own personal experience and view on your statement about being on my own when using Open Source GIS software.

    I am using both commercial and open source in my organization, I pay quite a bit for the commercial support in the form of an annual maintenance fee. I don’t pay anything for support for the open source products I use, not because there aren’t any offerings, but it is more difficult do convince my company´s hierarchy to buy the same kind of annual support contract for open source products.

    Now, even under these circumstances, I get more results from the “unofficial” open source support from mailing lists then from the commercial support contract.

    Let me give you some examples on commercial support:

    1. I discovered, to my surprise, the latest version of the commercial product didn’t support wms services on computers with international settings (comma instead of dot as decimal separator). I waited a year and a half for that)
    2. I have found that the commercial product is 100% slower (half the speed) with a supported database product than the open source equivalent. The support told me that it was the database’s fault (which was aggravating). I had to log the sql statements and prove them wrong. I’m still waiting for a solution. There is no guarantee this will be solved. I was informed an enhancement request was filled but it is not publicly viewable.

    On the other hand, I had some problems with the open source product, without any support contract. I’m seeing a quick release cycle that solves a good portion of known bugs and problems, almost always solving my problem in the process. But the best thing that happened to me is when my particular bug is fixed under 24h and I can immediately download the fixed version. I even had a situation where I needed a new feature and someone developed an initial version in a week. A day later, one of the main developers included a similar feature in the core of the program.

    So, really, stating you are on your own when using open source products is really just not true and really a disservice to your audience when you state that so firmly.

    From my own experience, I am convinced there is a problem with changing our usual procedures. Instead of buying a product that includes one year of some kind of support (many times ineffective), and  then paying a fee annually, we must switch to using a free product, whose cost is that when we change it for the better we contribute that back to the rest of the users. And we can and should buy commercial support when our usage pattern reaches the level when it makes sense to acquire this type of contract.

    Thank you for your article. Other than this particular point, I enjoyed reading it.

    Best regards,

    Duarte – Portugal

     

    Dear Mr. Gakstatter,

    It’s great to see open source GIS featured in gpsworld.com (env-gpsworld-integration.kinsta.cloud) but I cannot agree with the following statement:

    “there’s limited amount of technical support available to implement and maintain the apps”

    There are both very professional companies (redacted) and enthusiastic communities behind any of the graduated OSgeo projects.

    As you mentioned correctly, one main issue is “market awareness” concerning open source GIS. Another issue is the very limited marketing budgets which makes it difficult to push the message and articles claiming lacking support are unfortunately not encouraging the average user to look into open source.

    I really appreciate that you picked up the topic of open source, I’d just  hope that correct pointers the the many support possibilities would be included.

    Best wishes,

    Anita – Austria

     I just read your article on Open Source GIS, dated May 17, 2012. I agree that it will be interesting to see where FOSS GIS goes in the future, I have to question your view on support.  I have been a user of proprietary GIS and image processing software for 10 years (from ArcView 2 through present day ArcGIS 10.1, ERDAS IMAGINE, ENVI, MapInfo etc…) and I have to say that I have received MUCH better “technical support” the past two years with FOSS products than I ever had with the other proprietary products.  Many of the FOSS packages have excellent document and reference websites (could be because these are built by the developer s and users alike, and added to continuously.)  There are also a large number of blogs and other websites documenting steps in these packages.  Additionally, the email lists are incredible.  I can usually find what I need WITHOUT having to call someone!  In the past, I was a heavy user of ESRI Knowledge Forums, which I thought was great when I started. ESRI staffers did not post as much as you would like. Numerous questions would go months or years without an answer or post by ESRI. The numbers of qualified people posting to the ESRI forums and email lists were far outnumbered by the users and were less responsive when needed. Maybe there is also a factor that is you recived software and support for free, then you’re more willing to help others. As well, being a tech support person myself for many years, I can attest that many ESRI/ArcGIS users do not understand much about GIS and cannot answer may questions posted. There are of course, local user groups, but many are specific to their needs. IT was tough in the ESRi world to get support than in the FOSS world.

    One last comment is the adoption of gvSig. Quantum GIS has really taken off and is the primary FOSS GIS desktop people use. MapWindow also is becoming very popular and used heavily by US federal govt related groups. Both of which feel closer to traditional GIS. gvSig is also a little different in its feel and use.

    John – Delaware USA

    I’d like to thank these folks for taking the time to write about their experiences. I’m going to continue to investigate, understand, and start using open source GIS to gain a feel for it. Initially, my interest in open source GIS was focused on mobile apps, such as gvSig Mobile, but I also see there’s an effort to develop Quantum GIS Mobile for Android, which could be very interesting given the tremendous adoption of Android in mobile devices. Also, the website agenda doesn’t reflect it yet, but I’ve added a keynote speaker on open source GIS to the 2012 Field Technology Conference general plenary. It’s important for the GIS user community to understand what’s available.

     

    Operating System Wars: Android, iOS or Windows Mobile?

    I also received an email from a reader regarding my series on mobile devices and operating systems. I’ve written a few articles on this subject recently. In fact, an article titled “Expert Advice: Mobile Computing on the Rise” will be in the GPS World print magazine in the July issue, which is what the following reader email is referring to. For more background, refer to the following articles:

    April 27, 2012 – Mobile Device Operating System Wars: Android vs. iOS vs. Windows Mobile

    May 10, 2012 – Thoughts on Mobile Devices, UAVs, and Cheap Data-Collection Software

    July 4, 2012 – Mobile GIS Webinar Follow-up and the New Google Nexus 7 Tablet

    Eric,

    Just read your July 1 article “Expert Advice: Mobile Computing on the Rise.” Seems every time you write on mobile I feel compelled to send you an email follow up. This time’s no exception.
    I too remember the Grid computer days when a tablet’s heft was in tons, handwriting recognition involved mystical templates that helped you shape your letters just so with the stylus, screen visibility outdoors was essentially non-existent and battery life diminished at the same rapid rate as water evaporating in the southwestern desert sun on a 115 degree day. I absolute agree that WinMobile’s future is questionable and even if that OS does manage to avoid emulating dinosaurs it will likely remain relegated to professional uses only with high price points both for hardware to run that OS and for the software that makes owning a device powered by it marginally worthwhile. Ruggedized hardware is the best thing going for WinMobile in my mind and I believe that’s all that can save it from becoming fossilized. But that advantage is beginning to resemble the Garmin/TomTom legacy losing traction nowadays.
    Where we differ, however, is that I’m already willing to go WAY out on the limb and give the trophy for victory in the mobile war to Android devices. Here’s why.
    My first smartphone was an Apple iPhone 3GS and when it came time to move up to a new phone, I wrestled quite a long time between Samsung Android-based offerings and the very new at that time Apple 4s. If you guess that I went for the Android for my second smartphone and that’s why I’m emailing you, you’d be wrong. Although I absolutely hate several limitations of iOS-based phones (no removable battery, throttling back to near non-existence of Bluetooth by Apple, and zero removable storage specifically), I went iOS yet again primarily because of Siri (which I’ve not been that thrilled with) and the fact I already had many iOS apps that I’d paid for and understood how to use.
    But when it came time to buy my first non-Windows (… and I’m not talking WinMobile) tablet, I reversed course totally. I purchased a Toshiba Thrive which I really love. I don’t even bother to pack my Win7 laptop for most business trips nowadays. I have a small twelve inch laptop case with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard and I just grab the Thrive and the case and I’m good to go. When I first got the Android OS tablet, many of the apps that were readily available in iOS were not there. By that I’m not talking about DropBox or the Weather Channel app … I’m taking specialized category level not there. I was blown away, for example, that I couldn’t find a camera app that geotagged photos taken with the Thrive. Over time, however, that gap has narrowed so it’s far less a factor and I really like the fact that I can take my 128 GB SDXC chip on which I have all my geospatial professional, university teaching and personal files and pop it out of my work Win7 laptop and into the Thrive and head out across the county. QuickOffice lets me read MS Office docs and make changes on the go. Right now, I’d not trade my year and a half old Thrive for a new retina display iPAD even if Apple paid me what the new IPAD costs if I had to give up my Thrive.
    Knowing that just my enthusiasm about someday being able to take a terabyte of geospatial data on an Android tablet with me to the field will probably not convince you to join my declaration of victory, I’ll finally get to the point of this email.
    The fact is that MANY vendors are introducing this summer ruggedized Google-based tablets. Contrast that to the fact that iPADs will always have to be encased in some kind of protective shell. That’s the piece of the story that I think you missed. To me this is a very big deal. A Panasonic Toughbook Android offering compared to the delicate iPAD for use in my geography is a no brainer. I also don’t expect to see too many daylight optimized iPAD screens coming out anytime soon from Apple.  Also MIA in your piece was easy of development.  Friends and I are building a new geospatial apps company and so we’ve been done a bit of development on both Android and iOS. So far we’ve used Flash Builder and created FLEX-based apps just by checking the two appropriate boxes for iOS and Android Mobile. Then it came time to test the apps. I can tell you that the venture capital sized fee required, the CDC DNA sample, TSA full body scan and NSA screening one must endure plus the length of Apple’s approval process to be able to just push a simple test app out to a few devices from iTunes compared to the far more pleasurable experience fielding a test Google app leave me never wanting to write again for iOS. And then there are the UDIDs for every darn iOS device you plan on testing your code on. Developing on iOS is a royal pain compared to Android. Pain of development is the second thing not in your write up.
    Yes I find the lack of being able to create a folder unifying programs of a general type (telecom apps, office apps, etc.) on one of the Thrive’s home screens to be a bit of a pain but I really like being able to switch out my Thrive’s battery when I need a new one or I need one that’s freshly charged to head out into the field.
    So … I predict loudly (because unlike you I have nothing to lose in doing so), Google will win the field mobile race beating Apple as you said but I’m thinking more like three years and I believe ruggedized hardware designed specifically for field use that cost more than a Thrive but far less than a Getac Win7 convertible or a Trimble GeoXT will be a key factor in that victory.  And if ArcPAD for Android or a Trimble GeoXT with Android comes out…best get out of the way ‘cause a Tsunami’s coming.
    Keep up the great articles and I hope you find my thinking interesting,
    Larry – West Virginia USA

     

    I largely agree with Larry. I think the mobile operating system war will likely be won by Android (market research predictions support this), and Windows Embedded Handheld might end up being the choice for “professional” users. Why? It’s all about the apps. Of course, there are tons of professional apps written for Windows Mobile (Windows Embedded Handheld will run them) and we’re starting to see geospatial apps being written for Android. Yes, there are geospatial apps written for iOS too, but if you look at the potential upside, I keep hearing that Apple just isn’t a developer-friendly environment, and as Larry mentions, Apple will always be focused on the consumer market, so don’t expect a ruggedized version of the iPad anytime soon. However, on the flip side, one Apple developer relayed to me that it’s very helpful that Apple retains strict control over app development for iOS devices:

    “When Apple upgrades IOS, it is pushed out to all devices (pad/pod/phone) and the updates are very well documented in terms of what changed. He said users just agree and they all get it, very rarely does someone say no to the upgrade. So, you have basically one version to program for/test at a time. Long story short, you only have to program the different screens and the rest is standardized. The info is there to tell you what the device is, so it is easy to have one app look diff or add something for a pad w/larger screen than on the phone.

    For android, the OS is open, so every manufacturer and/or provider and every different phone from them can have a different/unique OS. It starts out the same but some add features others don’t and most modify the code to suit their needs. Then, upgrades only happen if the manufacturer and/or provider decide they want to upgrade them and which ones (old phones might not get upgraded for example).  So, lots of Androids out there are not on the same/most current OS. Users can’t just do upgrade themselves, a generic version might not work right on their phone and most people don’t look for upgrades anyway.”

    Over the next six months, it’s going to be really interesting to watch what kid of geospatial apps are introduced for iOS and Android. That will be the main driver behind the adoption of mobile devices based on iOS and Android. It will also be interesting to watch how many new devices are introduced that are running Windows Embedded Handheld/Windows Mobile.

     

    Again, thanks to the readers for taking time to write and stimulate further discussion on this fascinating subject.

     

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

     

  • Open Source GIS: Part II

    I received a bit of email from my article last week on open source GIS. There are two letters from readers I’d like to share with you because I think they clearly represent two different perspectives of the open source GIS discussion.

    I’d love to hear from more folks about their open source GIS apps. Please send me a quick email.

    The first letter points out an important fact about open source GIS that I didn’t touch on last week. His point is that with open source GIS, anyone can modify the software source code to add or change features of the software.

    Dear Eric,

    I’ve been following your writings for a few years now, and I’m delighted to see you bring up open source geospatial software in your column!

    Last year, I finished an online MGIS degree from Penn State, using open source GIS and web mapping tools with local township staff for my “capstone project.” Here in Michigan, townships are the local units of government that are below counties in the hierarchy of governments. There are over 1200 of them in the state.

    Open source tools, I think, represent an “enabling” technology and movement, especially for impoverished township governments like those I worked with in northern Michigan. There, some of the staff may actually be trained in using commercial GIS tools (from previous employment or from schools), but their small, rural townships may not be able to afford licenses for them. In other townships, staff have enthusiasm for, but not training in, GIS tools, and are willing to spend the time to learn and use them if their townships can provide them with such tools. (Here again, up here in rural northwest lower Michigan, townships typically can’t.) The townships up here typically have populations in the low thousands.

    For this segment of potential users, open source desktop GIS tools such as QGIS and uDig turned out to be just what was needed. For a couple of townships, I just had to show them how to download and install these tools, and then they were off on their own! After they created paper maps and such for their use (planning commission work, recreational planning, and so on), I made online interactive versions for their websites using open source tools. Such open source web mapping tools included Open Layers, Geoserver, and even Google Maps API, even though Google Maps API is not, strictly speaking, open source. In other townships, I initially had to sit down and coach them in the use of QGIS and uDig, but they soon caught on and started producing their own mapping products. Granted, the maps were fairly simple maps, but perfectly adequate to communicate to their constituents whatever needed to be communicated. Without open source GIS products, none of this would have been possible, especially in today’s economic climate.

    If you take a close look at QGIS, for example, you’ll see that the current release version (1.7.4) and the development version (1.9.x) contain highly sophisticated tools that rival those from commercial packages. In fact, for the vast majority of potential users (such as those I worked with), what are in the current versions are more than enough for their needs. Through the efforts of the worldwide communities of enthusiastic, part-time developers who program in their own time, these open source geospatial products of great sophistication are made available to those who need them most!

    Again, thank you for hi-lighting open source geospatial products in your column!

    Howard Yamaguchi

    P.S.  Eric, in your column you dwelled on the “free as in free beer” aspect of open source, where anybody can download the software and use it, gratis. The other aspect of open source that you could have mentioned is the part where, in addition to  downloading the product, we can also download the source code and tinker with it. We are then free to use the tinkered code for our own use, even to profit from it by deploying and using such modified versions for our clients. Open source licenses typically require us to eventually upload the modified source code to the developer community so that they can, if they so choose, incorporate it into the release versions of the product. That’s the “free as in free speech” part, the part that really distinguishes open source software from the world of commercial software. (But you probably knew all this!)  Cheers!

    Following is a letter from a gentleman who says the cost-savings potential with open source GIS isn’t worth it for the organization he works in.

    Eric—

    Thanks for your always insightful columns. You asked for feedback from users who are using open source GIS apps, but might I offer the following counterpoint? The electric utility company I work for doesn’t use open source GIS and has no plans to use it, regardless of how reliable or low-priced it becomes. “Why?” you ask. “Is it because we’re herd-bound and lacking vision?  Are we so tied to our big-box traditions that we can’t see the coming GIS software wave?”

    No, the reason is simply that the cost of neither software nor hardware is significant in comparison to the value of GIS data integration. When our system operators remotely close a switch, the distribution SCADA system’s electrical-connectivity data (which it receives from our GIS) darn well better correctly identify the facilities it just energized. So a GIS that’s highly integrated into our distribution-SCADA, accounting, work-management, outage-management and meter-data-management systems is a bargain at any price; but a stand-alone GIS app (even one with really great data-collection capabilities) is effectively worthless to us, regardless of how cheap it is.

    This system integration is not something our management cares to do in-house (though I’m always making the argument that we can and should do more in-house), nor is it something we can entrust to volunteer hackers (regardless of how altruistic they are). There will always be a market for high-dollar GIS platforms that frictionlessly exchange real-time data with mission-critical systems.

    It seems (to me anyway) that the only role open source apps might play is in areas that don’t involve interfaces with other mission-critical systems — e.g., in presenting our GIS data alongside other datasets, or perhaps in data collection/validation.

    Thanks again, for your always interesting insights,

    Bob

    Thanks to Howard and Bob for their perspectives.

    How about open source geo data such as openstreetmap.org?

    If you recall, one of the trends identified by the experts that the United Nations polled was that “There is unlikely to be a market for datasets like those currently sold to power navigation and location-based services solutions in five years, as they will have been superseded by crowdsourced datasets from OpenStreetMaps or other comparable initiatives.”

    Do you think that Bob’s rationale also applies to open source data? I’m sure that’s what Navteq/Nokia and Teletlas/TomTom would argue.

    Personally, I think that the U.N. prediction of five years is pretty aggressive. Navteq and TeleAtlas have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into collecting and validating their datasets. They get paid to be accountable for the quality of their product. The challenge for OpenStreetMap to take over the GPS Personal Navigation and other LBS markets is that the quality bar has already been set. If OpenStreetMap data quality doesn’t match or come close, the user experience will be disappointing and OpenStreetMap’s reputation will take a hit.

    Don’t take this wrong, though. Open source GIS data sources like OpenStreetMap, OpenSeaMap, etc. have a bright future. As I’ve written before, and as the U.N. correctly identifies, the proliferation of high-precision GNSS receivers, along with other sensors, will make high-precision data collection inexpensive and commonplace. Super-detailed, feature-rich, open source data is in our future.

    Thanks, and see you next week.
    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • Open Source GIS

    Some years ago, I predicted that the price of GIS data-collection hardware would eventually decline to the point that software would be the most expensive part of a GIS data-collection system. Well, I’m beginning to rethink that statement. Here’s why.

    There’s a solid push towards the open source concept in GIS. Since 2006, there’s been an annual conference called FOSS4G (Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial) hosted by OSGeo, the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. According to the OSGeo website,

    The Open Source Geospatial Foundation, or OSGeo, is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support the collaborative development of open source geospatial software, and promote its widespread use. The foundation provides financial, organizational and legal support to the broader open source geospatial community. It also serves as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources, secure in the knowledge that their contributions will be maintained for public benefit. OSGeo also serves as an outreach and advocacy organization for the open source geospatial community, and provides a common forum and shared infrastructure for improving cross-project collaboration.

    The foundation’s projects are all freely available and useable under an OSI-certified open source license.

    The OSGeo Mission Statement:

    To support the collaborative development of open source geospatial software, and promote its widespread use.

    OSGeo Goals:

    The following more detailed goals support the overall mission:

    • To provide resources for foundation projects — e.g., infrastructure, funding, legal.
    • To promote freely available geodata — free software is useless without data.
    • To promote the use of open source software in the geospatial industry (not just foundation software) — e.g., PR, training, outreach.
    • To encourage the implementation of open standards and standards-based interoperability in foundation projects.
    • To ensure a high degree of quality in foundation projects in order to build and preserve the foundation “brand”.
    • To make foundation and related software more accessible to end users — e.g., binary “stack” builds, cross package documentation.
    • To provide support for the use of OSGeo software in education via curriculum development, outreach, and support.
    • To encourage communication and cooperation between OSGeo communities on different language (eg. Java/C/Python) and operating system (eg. Win32, Unix, MacOS) platforms.
    • To support use and contribution to foundation projects from the worldwide community through internationalization of software and community outreach.
    • To operate an annual OSGeo Conference, possibly in cooperation with related efforts (e.g., EOGEO).
    • To award the Sol Katz award for service to the OSGeo community.

    Clearly, from the mission statement and goals, this effort is all about the geospatial user community, and you should stay tuned into this effort.

    Some of the current OSGeo projects include desktop GIS applications like gvSIG, Quantum GIS, and GRASS GIS.

    gvSIG Desktop App.
    gvSIG Desktop App.

    There is also a gvSIG Mobile app I mentioned in last week’s Geospatial Solutions Weekly column. It was developed using Java and runs on the Windows Mobile platform. With both gvSIG desktop and mobile, you can have an entire GIS data collection and desktop software suite free of charge. Of course, free comes with a price. There’s no accountability, no priority tech support, no one to call when you can’t figure out why things aren’t working, etc. You’re on your own, sort of. There’s an online community of users who interact and support each other. Also, like open source operating system LINUX, there are companies that will provide commercial support for open source GIS apps.

    gvSIG originated in Spain, and although it is available in more than 20 languages, it hasn’t gained much momentum in the U.S. yet. I think it’s an important enough subject that I’ve added it as a session topic to the Field Technology Conference this September. We will have at least one technical presentation on the subject and I will address open source GIS in my keynote presentation. If we’re lucky, we’ll also have a hands-on open source GIS area so conference attendees can see open source GIS apps being used in action.

    If you recall two weeks ago in my Geospatial Solutions Weekly article, I presented the United Nations Five to Ten Year Vision on Geospatial Information Management. Some of the key geospatial trends the U.N. identified related to open source are:

    • Free and open source software will continue to grow as viable alternatives both in terms of software, and potentially in analysis and processing.
    • Free and open access to data will become the norm and geospatial information will increasingly be seen as an essential public good.
    • Within five years the level of detail on transport systems within OpenStreetMap will exceed virtually all other data sources and will be respected and used by major organisations and governments across the globe.
    • National Mapping Agencies are likely to find it difficult to justify the costs of traditional data maintenance mechanisms as their products are used in increasingly niche areas.
    • Crowdsourced content will decrease cost, improve accuracy and increase availability of rich geospatial information.
    • There will be increased combining of imagery with crowdsourced data to create datasets that could not have been created affordably on their own.
    • Crowdsourced data will push National Mapping Agencies towards niche markets.
    • Progress will be made on bridging the gap between authoritative data and crowdsourced data, moving towards true collaboration.
    • Crowdsourced sensoring will emerge.
    • There is unlikely to be a market for datasets like those currently sold to power navigation and location-based services solutions in 5 years, as they will have been superseded by crowdsourced datasets from OpenStreetMaps or other comparable initiatives.

    It’s going to be very interesting to watch how quickly open source GIS apps and data (e.g., OpenStreetMap) are adopted. Part of the challenge is market awareness of open source GIS apps and data. Being open source (free), there aren’t big (or any) marketing budgets to promote the open source GIS concepts and products. Another challenge is if one chooses to implement open source GIS apps, there’s limited amount of technical support available to implement and maintain the apps unless there’s a reasonable level of commercial technical support available. However, as the adoption of open source GIS increases, it’s reasonable to assume the quality and quantity of user community technical support will grow.

    If any of my readers use open source GIS apps and would like to share, I’d love to hear about your experiences. Click here to send me a quick email.

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • LizardTech Publishes GeoExpress Best Practices Guide

    LizardTech announced the release of the GeoExpress Best Practices Guide at the Autodesk University Conference 2009 in Las Vegas, where the company is exhibiting in booth #345 this week.

    The GeoExpress Best Practices Guide is a printable key designed to help navigate the many workflows available using LizardTech GeoExpress software, and provide users with the best settings and options to use for optimal image quality and performance. Many of the decisions that are made and the options that are selected in compressing, manipulating and publishing imagery have impacts for downstream users.

    “LizardTech’s goal is to provide our users with information to understand and use best practices so that they and their end users can get the most out of their imagery,” said Jon Skiffington, director of marketing.

    The complete GeoExpress Best Practices Guide is available as a free download here: http://www.lizardtech.com/products/geo/datasheets.php. Hard copies will also be distributed at the Autodesk University conference in LizardTech’s booth #345.