There are lots of open source gis apps. Check out http://opensourcegis.org/.
I started to use GRASS but couldn't get over the initial hump of setting up a test project. The GIS system I've used and taught to others is Quantum GIS (QGIS). Some quick points: * Its developed with the Qt GUI libraries * It runs in windows and linux * It's interface is similar to that of ArcView * It has support for third-party plug-ins * It primarily uses ArcView shapefiles as file storage but it can also use PostGIS (see below) * It can import data from your GPS via a plug in (although this is sometimes buggy). It doesn't have the same fancy features as GRASS (like raster to vector conversion via edge detection) but it's provides the essential features for a GIS. There are other related tools that you may be interested in: * PostGIS is a spatial extension to the PostgreSQL database (essentially they're a set of c libraries that integrate into postgres as stored procedures). So you can build a complex data schema and add spatial data as required. You can also do stuff like estimate the centroid of a polygon or determine if two features overlap using SQL queries. * the OGR set of tools is good if you have a variety of data sources and need to convert from one format to another. postgis -> arcview -> mapinfo -> etc..... * mapserver is great if you want to integrate your spatial information into an interactive web-interface. Hope this helps Greg On 6/1/07, Rogelio Serrano <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 6/1/07, Orlando Andico <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On 6/1/07, Rogelio Serrano <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > WTF! US army is doin' linux now? I thought only poor Armies use linux. > > > > > > Ok a GIS is like a spreadsheet. The algorithms used are the same. You > > > can use Berkeley DB as the database where you store chunks of a map > > > and associated attributes which can be anything you want. > > > > 1) GIS is not "like a spreadsheet." It's much, much more than that. > > GRASS was developed over ten years. > > > > In the outside yes. > > > 2) GRASS has been around for a very long time, long before there was a > > Linux. In the 80s and 90s when GRASS was developed, Unix boxes were > > very expensive hardware. > > Yes thats why its expensive. Most of the development is creating the > other software needed by the "GIS engine". > > But GRASS is very nice. You can download the library and try it. > > -- > Lay low and nourish in obscurity > _________________________________________________ > Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List > [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) > Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists > Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph > _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
