Simon, I agree 99% with you, but why you left Mac out of the tests. AFAICT Grass, Qgis, Udig, OpenJump, OrbisGis, geoserver, mapserver and somehow gvSIG work on Mac. Agustin > <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> > <html> > <head> > <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> > <title></title> > </head> > <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> > I agree with Stefan.<br> > <br> > 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.<br> > <br> > 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.<br> > <br> > I have tried multiple OS GIS packages and they all do different things > in different ways. Some useful some novel (to me).<br> > <br> > What really counts is if you can use one program to complete your > normal workflow without needing to use other packages.<br> > <br> > 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.<br> > <br> > 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.<br> > <br> > 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.<br> > <div class="moz-signature"> > <p>Cheers Simon</p> > <p style="margin-left: 36pt;"> > Simon Cropper <br> > Botanicus Australia Pty Ltd<br> > PO Box 160, Sunshine, Victoria 3020.<br> > P: 9311 5822. M: 041 830 3437.<br> > <a href="mailto:scrop...@botanicusaustralia.com.au">mailto: > scrop...@botanicusaustralia.com.au</a> <br> > <a href="http://www.botanicusaustralia.com.au">web: > www.botanicusaustralia.com.au</a> <br> > </p> > </div> > <br> > <br> > Stefan Steiniger wrote: > <blockquote cite="mid:4b2e96f3.9090...@geo.uzh.ch" type="cite">Hei all, > <br> > <br> > thanks for Cameron on keeping me in the loop, and to Markus for > <br> > remembering :) I am now subscribed to this list. > <br> > <br> > I think Pauls idea sounds interesting - because this whole comparison > <br> > thing is > <br> > a) quite cumbersome when we have 10 desktop GIS (+ X), and > <br> > b) neither really worth because desktop GIS are used for a multitude of > <br> > tasks, while web map Servers or databases aren't that much - right? > <br> > <br> > So as Paul is quoted on the osgeo wiki: one needs to set up use cases > <br> > first (just wrote that today in a new article too, which contains a > <br> > section on selecting free GIS software). And I also discovered that > just > <br> > most of the projects have a different focus during my evaluation. Which > <br> > of course does not mean that such thing should not be presented - but > it > <br> > must be focussed in some way or the other to have a benefit. And as a > <br> > side note, I am not sure if measuring processing times makes sense > <br> > either, as GIS analysis feature sets are so different. > <br> > <br> > However, I am in for testing with OpenJUMP. > <br> > <br> > Two more notes: > <br> > - my comparison tables are now already 2 years old now (from 2007), > i.e. > <br> > need some update (but the last pub in Ecological Informatics took into > <br> > account newer developments too, but is superficial and focused towards > <br> > the "average" GIS users). > <br> > - I gave a talk about this at OGRS: > <br> > <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.ogrs2009.org/doku.php?id=keynotes">http://www.ogrs2009org/doku.php?id=keynotes</a> > <br> > pdf can be downloaded from there. > <br> > <br> > cheers from Germany right now (Xmas) > <br> > stefan > <br> > <br> > PS: I know also of this comparison by T. Hengl et al. on Grass vs. SAGA > <br> > for Geomorphologic Analysis > <br> > <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.igc.usp.br/pessoais/guano/downloads/Hengl_etal_2009_gmorph.pdf">http://www.igc.usp.br/pessoais/guano/downloads/Hengl_etal_2009_gmorph.pdf</a> > <br> > <br> > <br> > Paul Ramsey schrieb: > <br> > <blockquote type="cite">Interested in a different approach that is > lower impact, but still > <br> > interesting and entertaining? Have developers review a "competing" > <br> > project and then present their findings, in the form of "What I love > <br> > about ___, what I hate about____". > <br> > <br> > Jody Garnett presents "What I love about QGIS, what I hate about QGIS." > <br> > Jorge Sanz presents "What I love about uDig, what I hate about uDig." > <br> > Tim Sutton presents "What I love about gvSIG, what I hate about gvSIG." > <br> > <br> > Not only do you get an unvarnished view, but you can have shorter > <br> > presentations with a discussion segment at the end of each one. > <br> > <br> > Works for almost any application category too. > <br> > <br> > </blockquote> > <br> > _______________________________________________ > <br> > Discuss mailing list > <br> > <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" > href="mailto:Discuss@lists.osgeo.org">Discuss@lists.osgeo.org</a> > <br> > <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss">http://lists.osgeoorg/mailman/listinfo/discuss</a> > <br> > <br> > <br> > </blockquote> > </body> > </html> >
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