Hello Horst,
Thanks a lot for your feedback and testimony, and for everything you achieved
for OpenSource GIS during all these years.
It is important to keep the memory of the history of OpenSource software, to
know where we come from, and appreciate the journey. As you say the world
changes, IT changes and OpenSource changes as well, and it is important to
remind us of the core roots of our commitment : being open, critical, helpful,
ready to share knowledge and to collaborate for the common good.
I wish you all the best for your new life, and hope that you will be able to
enjoy it with family and friends.
A have appreciated the times when we shared beers and chats, and as you say,
maybe paths will cross again.
And have a good day and a great weekend to start with :-)
Vincent
On 22/01/2026 18:12, Dr. Horst Düster via QGIS-User wrote:
Dear colleagues
After 38 years of geoinformatics, geographic information systems, and
everything related to them, I am now retiring from professional life at the end
of January and starting a new chapter in my life. It has been an eventful time,
which began at ESRI in Kranzberg near Munich in 1988. While working on my
dissertation at the University of Bern, I quickly came across open source
software and open source GIS. Much to the surprise of my colleagues, the GIS of
my choice at the time was GRASS. It allowed me to do everything I needed for my
work. A series of fortunate circumstances led to FOSS4G becoming the focus of
my work from then on. In Solothurn, starting in 1999, all doors were open for
my FOSS4G ideas, as the canton had decided on a Linux strategy and the
necessary financial resources were available.
During this time, projects such as UMN MapServer played a key role – pragmatic, powerful, and developed by an international community. The big gap in the software stack was desktop GIS. Around 2003, I discovered Quantum GIS and was very impressed by its potential, even though it was still in its infancy and didn't offer much functionality. But if you believe in the small, it can become big. Lucky circumstances played a role here too, because Marco Hugentobler, one of the core developers of Quantum GIS, was based very close to me in Zurich. Now I had money available and a developer at my disposal. This laid the foundation for the successful development of Quantum GIS, which later became QGIS. Marco was able to develop all the functions in Quantum GIS that were necessary for the canton of Solothurn's work—data analysis, symbolization, digitization, and map production. The world was open to a free desktop GIS. Today, QGIS is an indispensable part of geoinformatics, but back
then we were laughed at.
My special thanks go to the people who made this journey possible: the
developers, who often worked behind the scenes with great perseverance and
passion; the colleagues in administration, universities, and offices who had
the courage to break new ground; and the few who took responsibility early on
and inspired others to follow suit—in Switzerland and around the world. Without
this personal commitment, without trust, and without sometimes controversial
discussions, much of this would not have come about.
What has accompanied me all these years has not only been the technical
excellence of these tools, but above all the community behind them: open,
critical, helpful, and always ready to share knowledge. This free culture has
shaped my work and my commitment—and it has made FOSS4G strong.
With great gratitude for all the encounters, discussions, and joint projects
worldwide, I am now taking a step back from my very active professional life.
The FOSS4G community is in an excellent position today, and I am convinced that
it will continue on its successful path. The current challenges of our time—the
many unhealthy dependencies that we saw early on and which are now increasingly
being recognized by decision-makers—urge us to be vigilant in the face of
growing authoritarianism and nationalist tendencies, which are regaining
strength in many parts of the world.
And I will continue to be part of the community, because I am not retiring from
life. Who knows where we will cross paths, what happy circumstances will enrich
our lives in the future, and what contribution I will make in the future? We
will see. Perhaps one or two of my companions will read this text and remember
moments we shared. That would make me very happy.
Thank you for everything. It is a great pleasure and honor for me to be part of
this development.
See you soon, yours
Horst Düster
[email protected]
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