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I agree with Stefan. I have found comparison tables of little use as the compiler has to summarize what is probably quite complex routines. They rarely give a potential user like myself the complete picture. My view has been that the only way to evaluate the usefulness of a program is to use it on actual data trying to do actual things. I have tried multiple OS GIS packages and they all do different things in different ways. Some useful some novel (to me). What really counts is if you can use one program to complete your normal workflow without needing to use other packages. I am not saying that someone should not use multiple packages during their normal work week only that you should be able to do your normal work without having to transfer data (and half the time actually convert data) between various packages to get what you need done. So from my point of view projects should not look at other projects, developers should not list functionality of their program or any other combination. Users should provide standard workflow tasks -- repetitive tasks sequences they complete regularly. Then be asked to complete those tasks on each of the programs being tested. Then the users rate ease of setup, ease of use, suitability of output, support, etc. The actual list of user experience ratings can be knocked up by an overview committee. This committee could also vet the users who put their hand up to ensure a good spectrum of users and tasks, from different sections of society (academic, commercial, newbie) are all represented and no bias exists. If developers think this might be too harsh (as users may not fully understand what is going on or how the program works), maybe a middle ground would be that the developers submit a solution to these workflow processes. The users follow these instructions and evaluate the outcome. This avoids users baulking at some quite eccentric GUI interfaces or program setup (solution must provide clear setup instructions for Windows and Linux). These solutions are tried and reviewed by the user. The workflows, results, comments and developer solutions can be collated onto one site (the OSGeo site seems appropriate) as a valuable resource for developers and user alike. Cheers Simon
Simon Cropper Stefan Steiniger wrote: Hei all, |
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