AfriSpatial

Confessions of an ex-Windows user

Robert Moerman — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:18:43 +0000

Education is undoubtedly the largest propaganda weapon in this consumerist-driven society. Having just completed matric, I realize that the first eighteen years of my life has been a period of unmitigated Windows brainwashing. It is a travesty to think how the capitalist greed of proprietary software has permeated my life for so long.

I recently began working at AfriSpatial with the intention of keeping myself busy during the holiday and earn some pocket money in the process. I was required to work in Linux which was a somewhat foreign OS to me and, afraid it would mysteriously hurt my fragile Windows PC, I installed Xubuntu OSGeo Live in a Virtual Box. At this stage life was treating me well…

One day, Windows decided to do an update which broke the harmony of my Virtual Machine by somehow preventing connection to the Internet. I wasted precious hours troubleshooting every conceivable error but this was to no avail. I had two choices: either forget about Linux and revert to the primitive ways of life before Linux or take a bold new step into a brighter future. So I actually had no choice and no more patience. I had to install Linux as a dual-boot. There was no other way.

This seemingly inconsequential event instigated a change; a purgation of conscience whose effects altered the kernel of my value system. I guess in hindsight this transmogrification was inevitable for an aspiring programmer.

Having joined the ranks of the converted Linux users, life has become so much brighter, so much more fulfilling, so much more. Gone are the days of tasteless architecture and graphics. The experience has been liberating. I blame schools for polluting their computer labs with expensive proprietary software when there are open source equivalents for just about everything (and often these ‘alternatives’ are better). Open source is undoubtedly the way forward. Anything Windows can do, Linux can do better. I am not trying to be antagonistic, just honest.

These are the confessions of an ex-Windows user.

Confessions of an ex-Windows user is a post from: AfriSpatial

Enterprise GIS with FOSS at the Council for GeoScience

Gavin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:28:35 +0000

The Council for Geoscience, South Africa’s parastatal Science Council responsible for geological research and mapping, made tentative enquiries about implementing some Open Source GIS and database solutions early in 2011. Till then, they had made their first foray into the FOSS and Open Standards world by serving the SA 1:million lithology map via a WMS server with MapServer as part of the OneGeology project.

So we were very pleased when the Bellville satellite office, in AfriSpatial’s neck of the woods, enquired about a course for web mapping and enterprise GIS using FOSS. They had data to manage and serve, particularly as part of the South African Geological Hazards Observation System, and did not have access to the expensive proprietary software at head office in Pretoria.


Introduction to Enterprise GIS with FOSS at CGSDec 14, 2011Photos: 4

Afrispatial presented an on-site course at the CGS in December 2011 for three days, with five CGS staff and an AfriSpatial intern. We covered Enterprise GIS architecture and system design, spatial databases with PostGIS, web map servers with GeoServer and QGIS Server and web client development with OpenLayers and GeoExt. PostGIS, Geoserver and GeoExt were presented as part of the OpenGeo Suite, for which Afrispatial is the southern African partner. We ran the course on Windows but also installed OSGeo Live Xubuntu on a virtual machine and explored QGIS Server and other software within that environment. We wish the CGS all the best for a Free 2012!

Keep an eye out for upcoming courses on all things FOSS GIS at our FOSS GIS Academy.

Enterprise GIS with FOSS at the Council for GeoScience is a post from: AfriSpatial

2011 FOSS GIS training overview

Gavin — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:43:57 +0000

AfriSpatial has had great fun with several varied training courses during 2011. We run commercial scheduled, on-site and one-on-one courses through the FOSS GIS Academy. As an outreach activity we run FOSS GIS courses with High School Geography teachers and have even run a few lessons with the school kids.

In May we ran our second QGIS and PostGIS course at AIMS in Muizenberg. This was a scheduled course and we had attendees from academia, consultancies and Government.

Victoria G. said: “I thought that the course was really excellent, and probably learnt more during it than most other IT courses that I have attended. Using PostGIS in particular will be the test and no doubt I will have many questions along the line but I look forward to getting stuck into using the software. A great course and very worthwhile!”


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June: Introduction to QGIS, Kimberley. The Northern Cape Provincial Government Department of Environmental Affairs and Nature Conservation has switched from ESRI products and is migrating all their GIS to FOSS. This was the kick-off course to familiarise desktop users with QGIS. It was two days long and we tried to keep it as basic as possible and also worked on common GIS stumbling blocks like projections.

One of the students, Christine P., had this to say: “I love QGIS. It is so easy to use. I won’t be going back to ArcView.”


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June: QGIS and PostGIS, Wits University. This was a scheduled course with attendees from academia, Government and private businesses, from small consultancies through to large corporates.

Suzi G. said: “Thanks for a fantastic introduction into the power and ability of QGIS. This has definitely swayed me to use QGIS as my GIS software of choice. Thanks to Gavin and Victoria for a truly enlightening course.”

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September: Advanced QGIS and GRASS, Northern Cape Provincial Government, Springbok. Many of the group from the Introductory course in June gathered again for three days of more advanced QGIS, analysis in GRASS and more in depth coverage of projections.

September: We did a one-on-one QGIS course with a partner from de Villiers Brownlie Associates environmental consultants. This is a great format for going at your own pace and dealing with your specific issues.

Keep an eye on the schedule at http://fossgisacademy.com for upcoming courses or contact us with your requirements for a custom or on-site course or if you would like to be added to our mailing list.

2011 FOSS GIS training overview is a post from: AfriSpatial

OSM to become a distributor of NGI’s South African topo data

Gavin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:34:36 +0000

In what I believe is a momentously progressive move for open data in South Africa, NGI [1] is in the process of signing an agreement with OSM [2]. It is a modified version of NGI’s standard ‘Map Data Services Provider’ agreement whereby third parties can distribute NGI data. What this means is that OSM will incorporate all the most recent South African topographical vector data from NGI. NGI data have been free and open for several years but this will make them accessible as never before.

NGI will retain copyright over its data and they will be distributed under OSM’s Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic licence and in future under the Open Database Licence.

In return, NGI will obtain updates and corrections as generated by OSM’s community of contributors and incorporate them into its data maintenance workflow.

According to Aslam Parker at NGI, this move will:

assist NGI in its aim to keep its topographical data as current as possible.

make NGI data more accessible and easier to obtain and use.

encourage and provide opportunities for under-represented South African areas on OSM to be more thoroughly mapped.

So, keep an eye on the map of your neck of the woods on OSM. Why not get involved in contributing? Anyone can register on OSM and edit the map. Better still, organise school or community mapping parties. Look what the OSM mapping party did at FOSS4G 2008 around Hout Bay and Imizamo Yethu. Being on the map means economic empowerment. Donate a GPS or teach someone to map in an underprivileged area. South Africa could do with a few initiatives like Map Kibera. Kibera outside Nairobi is one of the largest slums in Africa. “Without basic knowledge of the geography of Kibera it is impossible to have an informed discussion on how to improve the lives of residents of Kibera. Check out http://mapkibera.org/ for details of this project in which young Kiberans have created the first public digital map of Kibera.” (ref).

Well done NGI!

[1] National GeoSpatial Information, formerly the Chief Directorate: Surveys and Mapping. http://www.ngi.gov.za/

[2] OpenStreetMap. http://osm.org

OSM to become a distributor of NGI’s South African topo data is a post from: AfriSpatial

QGIS for Geography teachers

Gavin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:17:51 +0000

Interest in QGIS is growing among high school Geography teachers in southern Africa. Teachers are looking for GIS software that is affordable, easy to use and understand and easy to teach with. They say it’s important to be flexible and creative in the classroom and not be stuck with fixed lesson plans. Hands-on work such as on-screen digitising and map composition is important. Quantum GIS satisfies all these requirements.

Following the recent QGIS workshop in the Western Cape we were invited to present a QGIS workshop at Michaelhouse College in kwaZulu-Natal Province. Twenty-two Geography teachers spent Monday 15th Nov in the Geography computer room learning the basics of QGIS and how it could be used in practical lessons. Bridget Fleming, as a Geography teacher who uses GIS in every lesson, gave an introduction from a teacher’s perspective and gave a background on FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) and its history and principles. Then Gavin Fleming from AfriSpatial and Frank Sokolic from GIS Solutions / EduAction took QGIS through its paces.

Bridget’s tip for teachers who are daunted by technology is: “Just get the kids started and they will teach you the rest!”

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QGIS for Geography teachers is a post from: AfriSpatial