Open Source Computing and GIS in the UK

OK, I’m excited to announce that the new version of Portable GIS, complete with the latest versions (as of today- I have to draw the line somewhere) of all the software, is now in testing phase and pretty much ready to release. It’s a bit slicker that the previous version, and comes with some extra software and utilities.

Here is my problem: the last release weighed in at just less that 1GB downloaded, but the new one looks like coming in at approx 1.6GB though I’m going to zip it up in an exe which might help a bit. Software tends to increase in size from version to version, so some “bloat” is unavoidable, but is 1.6GB excessive?

I have a couple of options that I can take to reduce the size. The first is to strip out programmes, so that, for instance, there is only 1 desktop GIS package, or only 1 map server package. The second is to turn this setup into a Portable App, which gives me options to compress the files. I have previously been reluctant to go down the second route because I want the files in Portable GIS to be as similar to those in a standard download as possible, so that people can dig in and see what’s going on and use Portable GIS as a spring board to installing the apps themselves. I worry that “Portable-ising” the files will alter them in some way, but if someone can reassure me about that it’s something to consider.

So, questions:

1. Is 1.6GB excessive for a download of this type?
2. Should I only provide one desktop package and one map server?
3. Should I turn Portable GIS into a fully fledged portable app?

Thanks for your feedback!

Time for another round-up…

• The Ordnance Survey have revised the terms and conditions of using their OpenSpaces mapping API (via Mapperz), which is a step in the right direction, since they now allow adverts on your site. There’s still a daily limit to the number of views/address lookups that you can do too. However, there are a couple of points that need mentioning/clarifying… firstly there’s a strange condition that you can’t use this for “internal business administration”. Not sure what that really means, but I assume it’s so you don’t stick it behind a firewall and stop OS counting your number of page views or something. Furthermore, there’s nothing obvious on the site about whether you need a license to use the data still, in which case it’s still a show-stopper. I’ve emailed them for clarification about that, so watch this space…
• Tyler Mitchell has an article in Direction Magazine about “Reassuring End Users of Open Source“.  I’m uneasy about the term “Reassuring”, as it has slightly negative connotations (“don’t worry!”, “worry, who said anything about worrying?”), but the article is well worth a read with some useful comments on the advantage of open source for businesses and the role of OSGeo.
• No doubt everyone already knows about the OpenGeo Architecture White Paper. Personally I think it’s another good paper to have around and quote from (or steal slides from) when trying to convince people that using open source geospatial software  is a more flexible and all round sensible approach to your geospatial stack.
• OStatic have an article about Open Source software at NASA. Not so much geospatial stuff going on there, but it’s good to see the top two reasons why NASA go for Open Source:

To increase NASA software quality via community peer review

To accelerate software development via community contributions

It’s good to see “quality” as an argument for choosing Open Source, rather than “saving money”!

I’m excited to announce that the list of papers and workshops for the first UK Open Source GIS conference is now available on the website. With Tyler Mitchell doing the keynote,  and a choice of 25 papers and 4 workshops, it’s going to be a really good day. We’re hoping to finish up with the first AGM of the UK local chapter of OSGeo too, so I hope you’ll join us!