While shp files are effectively a standard for us geo-types, the
general public, including nerds who are not from the geo side do not
necessarily have shp reading tools on hand.
KML consuming applications, like google earth are fairly common among
normal people, and most nerds can make sense of JSON (or Geo-JSON).
Shouldn't public data be accessible to all, not just GIS people?
Michael
--
Michael Weisman
[email protected]
On 8-Mar-09, at 1:35 PM, Webb Sprague <[email protected]> wrote:
On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 12:33 PM, Webb Sprague
<[email protected]> wrote:
All I want from any data provider is an ftp source with
shapefiles in
zip bundles, and for them to get the prj files is right. This
doesn't really take much staff, though, yes, it takes some.
Anyone publishing their data openly needs to consider the effects of
choosing a single (semi-)proprietary format. I'm not convinced
that our
residents are best served by publishing for the benfit a small set
of GIS
power users, rather than targetting an open format that is
accessibly by
users of all skill levels (such as KML). I'm pretty sure that
most people
wouldn't know what to do with a .shp file. Or a FTP site for that
matter :)
think shapefiles have become a de facto standard by now with lots
and lots of open source tools to access them, as has FTP (especially
since you can point any browser at an ftp site and it will do the
right thing automagically). I also think zipped shapefiles on an ftp
site are well within the technical expertise of any GIS tech (at least
anyone I would hire!), and a very reasonable technical compromise.
It is FAR more important to make the data available TODAY, than to
wait for the perfect format (especially because there is none). I
could write a point and click shape2kml utility in an afternoon,
anyway, for those who want it.
W
Jason
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