Open Source Approaches in Spatial Data Handling

This book is intended to fill a niche within the growing field of Free and Open Source for Geospatial (FOSS4G) software development. The first chapters of the book discuss issues of importance to FOSS4G in general. A collection of some of the more prominent FOSS4G projects under development is then reviewed. The final three chapters each describe a different University-based FOSS4G project. The general intention of the book is to introduce new readers to the field of FOSS4G with as comprehensive a coverage if mainstream Web-based and desktop FOSS4G tools as possible. It was not possible to include all prominent projects in a single volume, and several noteworthy efforts such as Open Jump, gvSIG, uDig, MapBender, Spring, and Quantum GIS are not discussed. Despite this, the book gives both context and content to appeal to those new to FOSS4G developments as well as those already engaged in what David McIhagga describes in Chapter 3 as the 'Geospatial Web ecosystem'. Book jacket.