Juan José Del Toro Madrueño wrote:
Dear Google
Thanks indeed for officially opening APIs to Google maps. Based on the
volume of creativity unleashed as a result, this was clearly a great
idea. Thanks too, for, the public release of Google Earth, which has
provoked an unprecedented interest in computational models of the earth.
Unfortunately there has been some inadvertant damage as a result of
both of these otherwise well intentioned moves. Just as it is
impossible to walk across a lawn without stepping on micro-organisms,
... long tale of woe deleted...
Seems to me that if Open Source can only survive and prosper though
subsidies granted by the Great and Powerful, then I wonder if we really
need it -- or if we really need it under those conditions. On the other
hand, I don't believe that open source mapping is really hurt by these
events, nor do I believe that we in GIS should not embrace a new
paradigm for fear of running the makers of buggy whips out of business.
The old saw that a rising tide floats all boats seems to apply here, and
if some boats are still so leaky that they can't handle an incoming
tide, then maybe those in them should think again about what they're
really trying to accomplish.
- Bill Thoen
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