Arnie,
I'm working on something almost exactly as you describe, a connect
and/or standalone map service. I cal it a cascaded map service (might
be a mis-label), that can stay in sync with the remote server, and act
as a standalone when the network connection is not available.
My buisness needs go beyond emergency management however some some of
the guts are still harder to grasp by the beginner/sometimer admins.
But the hope is to make that all transparent, and reply on the
local(standalone) service to keep it self up to date based on a remote
service (that may or may not require the highend capabilities to set up.
(we use GeoMoose for example.).
I can keep you in the loop on things if you are interested.
bobb
Arnie Shore wrote:
As a very interested lurker, and as one who has developed an Open
Source Computer-Aided-Dispatch system that has embedded google's maps
product, I can tell you that one of the deterrents I see is the
relative complexity of an Open Source GIS implementation - as compared
to the use of GMaps, which also, of course and notably, is free. The
single source of both the tiles as well as the API is relatively
straightforward for the non-cartographer novice.
My user community includes a fair-sized portion who have never before
implemented a web-server-based system, and our package is designed to
minimize the number of elements that need separate collection and
configuration. To tell them that they need a map server in addition
to the stack that WAMP, XAMPP, MAMP, installs in a single executable
will turn away too many candidates, IMO. In our case, the
tile-serving capabilities could be met by a rather limited set of
server-side functions that are OL-aware. But I haven't seen anything
like that in the panoply of products that comprises the OSGeo world.
Please correct me on this if such exits.
(Further evidence of the importance of the ease-of-implementation
issue is the proliferation of open source libraries that include
capabilities taht are based on a GMaps foundation.)
I will say that my users - many of whom are into emergency operations
- indeed are asking for an implementation that wd allow operation
while disconnected from the Internet. Impossible in a GMaps-based
solution, but completely feasible in one based on OpenLayers plus
locally stored OSM tiles. Users I've pointed to the available OSM
sites have told me that the level of detail wd be completely
satisfactory as a suitable replacement for GMaps. Which is a
critically important data point, IMO.
My perception of the current evolution of the world of Open Source GIS
is toward greater complexity and richness. Which certainly makes for
excitement and challenge for its enthusiasts; but that isn't doing
much for those of us along the borders looking over the fences, and
with limited hours available to hop that fence and get involved.
Make entry easier than it is, folks. Please?
A. Shore
Annapolis, MD
On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 5:09 PM, Ravi <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hi,
have been going through all the wishes, all the arguments about
how Open Source GIS must evolve etc. ...
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