Hi.....
At the risk of breaking out a barrage of 'reminiscence'
emails......(only from South Africa? 🙂 )
It is nice to hear the experiences of the people who have spent decades
in the industry.
I started Geograph (spatial data capture focus) in 1984 with a ...wait
for it....full multi-user mainframe based Siemens SICAD system!
The mapping SW had proper physical topology (shared geometry) and a
scripting language.
From there it was on to Unix (SCO then Linux) based Genamap which I
used full time from ~1989 to 2013 and then again for a 4 month project
in 2016.
Since ~2018 I got sucked into working on site using client SW (yes, ESRI
and other specialist SW) - nothing wrong with that, but the message is,
is that one CAN survive very well without having to pay massive license
fees.
To the main point, I too take my hat off to the QGIS developers and
their history with their product.
Truly amazing what has been accomplished.
Dr Horst: Have a great next chapter in your life.
Kind regards,
Zoltan
On 2026/01/23 08:35, Nigel Berjak - General via QGIS-User wrote:
Thank you Horst for your history and inputs. I wish my dad, us being
in South Africa, who started his journey around 1986 after moving
partially away from Statistics and Computer Science lecturing, could
have been part of the early journey. In those times with no internet,
he wrote his own GIS, printer drivers etc., but found no support
locally and so ESRI was adopted as their sales force was second to
none. He would have really enjoyed being part of working with the QGIS
family.
---
Regards,
Nigel Berjak
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
On 2026-01-22 19:12, 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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--
=============================================
Zoltan Szecsei GPrGISc 0031
Director, Geograph (Pty) Ltd.
GIS and Photogrammetric Services
Cape Town, South Africa.
Mobile: +27-83-6004028 (Signal, not WhatsApp)
+36-20-3594428
www.geograph.co.za
=============================================
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