First Open Source GIS Conference A Success

"The second MapServer Users Meeting and the first ever Open Source GIS Conference was held on June 9th to 11th in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The initial response from the Open Source GIS community is that the conference was a huge success."

"Users and developers are flocking to open source solutions for all kinds of reasons: economic, philosophical, and practical. And, that's happening in the GIS community as well..." reports Adena Schutzberg in the GIS Monitor.

On his webblog, Tyler Mitchell writes: "Often the main benefit of open source GIS and mapping tools appears to be the low cost, especially when compared to the commercial alternatives. However, the greater strength, we are realizing is the vibrant community support and also the power of technology that is ahead of the commercial software curve in many respects."

According to a presentation [MS Word document] given by Paul Ramsey, Director, Refractions Research Inc. "Existing products are now entering a phase of rapid refinement and enhancement, using the core software structures that are already in place. Open Source software can provide a feature-complete alternative to proprietary software in most system designs."

Thanks to Slashdot