Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Based on our characters, you should be able to determine where you
fall in the lineup. Not only should you consider what you are now,
but what your needs will be in, say, six months, a year, and beyond.
The truth is that each of our users may have the same tools in their
toolkit. The difference will be in how they are used and to what extent.
As we progress through our exploration of desktop applications and
their capabilities, keep your self-assessment in mind. We will provide
reminders along the way to indicate which tools are best suited for each
class of user.
Lastly, this artificial classification scheme is not hard and fast. It only
provides a starting point for you to think about your requirements and
help you build up your own open source GIS toolkit.
Although jumping into the deep end of the pool can be an effective,
albeit traumatic, way to learn to swim, sometimes it pays to wade in
gradually, feeling your way along. The more feature-rich an applica-
tion is, the more likely it is to have a steeper learning curve. You start
with the tools that meet your needs and work your way into the more
complex as your appetite for GIS increases.
Determining what kind of user we are wasn't too bad. Now we move
into something a bit more difficult and look at some of the challenges
in assembling an open source GIS toolkit. Everything you do (including
crossing the street) entails some level of risk. Whether you use open
source or proprietary (closed source) software, you incur some risk.
The rest of this chapter looks at the challenges and risks and provides
some insight on dealing with potential pitfalls.
2.3
Choosing a Platform
In ancient times (around twenty to thirty years ago), if you wanted to
“do” GIS, you had to buy a certain type of hardware running a spe-
cific operating system. As time went on, the choices increased. Today
you can pretty much find GIS software to run on your favorite system,
assuming it's Linux, *nix, OS X, or Windows. You still can't find much
in the way of GIS software for your Commodore 64.
The logical assumption might be that we just get the software for our
current platform and forge ahead. But consider this: should you choose
the software for the platform or the platform for the software?
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