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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">I appreciate everyone's response and am glad that some input from Autodesk was received. I am especially interested in pursuing the use of this product because I see it solving many of our technical needs. I know that AutoDesk needs to make money off of this somehow since they are embracing open source instead of competing against it. So kudos to Autodesk and the OS community for partnering on this endeavor. I think ESRI is losing serious ground with the advent of Google Maps, and now MapGuide. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">A majority of the answers were provided, although it generated a couple more: </FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">1) Will Studio Lite support everything it currently has available (or supposed to have available)? From a development end I need to know whether you will be able to make all the data source connections (wms, sql server, sde, etc…) with studio lite, for example. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">2) Will Studio Lite be available before Studio Preview expires, avoiding a gap in time where OS developers have no authoring tool?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">3) Are there any tentative release dates for some of the OS functionality? Also, any pricing being made available for the commercial products? </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Thanks,</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Shane</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Content-Type: multipart/alternative;<BR>
boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01C64EA2.165BC440"<BR>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 09:49:09 -0800<BR>
From: Robert Bray <robert.bray@autodesk.com><BR>
Subject: [mapguide-users] Commercial vs. Open Source Functionality<BR>
</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Thanks Jason good answers. Let me just confirm (with my Autodesk hat<BR>
on). When we launched mapguide.osgeo.org we moved all of the core source<BR>
code for MapGuide into open source (you can see our daily development by<BR>
subscribing to the commits e-mail list). Both the open source and<BR>
commercial versions of the product are built from this one code base. We<BR>
actually deleted our internal source tree, so any changes to open source<BR>
will appear in commercial and vice versa. Now that said, we are a<BR>
business and need to make money in order to keep producing software. So<BR>
the commercial version will have additional functionality, but these<BR>
will be more like add-ons that come with the commercial distribution<BR>
(the core code will be the same).<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
1. Studio is a commercial product. There is an open source web-based<BR>
variation in the works that we plan to have available later this spring.<BR>
It will not be as functional as the commercial version, but it will be a<BR>
full open source project.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
2. The Open Source release will eventually contain providers for SDF,<BR>
SHP, ArcSDE, MySQL, ODBC, WMS, and WFS. As Jason points out, Frank W is<BR>
working on a Raster provider based on GDAL and we would really like to<BR>
get a PostGIS provider developed. These same providers (with the<BR>
exception of GDAL) are shipping with the upcoming release of Autodesk<BR>
Map. Getting them ready for that release has taken priority over getting<BR>
them ready for open source. Again we are a business and need to fund all<BR>
of this somehow.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
As for investment, we have put over two years of development into this<BR>
product. We have big plans for it and absolutely no intention of<BR>
abandoning it.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Bob<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
_____ <BR>
<BR>
From: Jason Birch [</FONT><A HREF="mailto:Jason.Birch@nanaimo.ca"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">mailto:Jason.Birch@nanaimo.ca</FONT></U></A><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">]<BR>
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2006 10:05 AM<BR>
To: users@mapguide.osgeo.org<BR>
Subject: RE: [mapguide-users] Commercial vs. Open Source Functionality<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Your questions are shared by many. This is just my interpretation, but<BR>
the information that Autodesk has revealed so far indicates that:<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
1. Studio will be strictly commercial (it contains AutoCAD components)<BR>
but Autodesk will be creating an open source "Studio Lite" application<BR>
for authoring maps.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
2. ArcSDE and WMS providers will be in the Open Source edition, as will<BR>
ODBC which you can use to access aspatial data in SQL Server. The<BR>
Essential FDO guide provides more information on this:<BR>
</FONT><A HREF="https://fdo.osgeo.org/docs/FET_TheEssentialFDO.pdf"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">https://fdo.osgeo.org/docs/FET_TheEssentialFDO.pdf</FONT></U></A><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"> Currently the<BR>
providers not slated for OS release are Oracle, SQL Server (spatial) and<BR>
Raster. This last one is a bit of a sticking point, but I believe that<BR>
Frank W is working on a GDAL Raster provider.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
3. The OS version of the MapGuide code is the only version. The<BR>
Enterprise package that Autodesk is selling will of course have<BR>
additional applications and plugins provided with it, but the entire<BR>
community will benefit from enhancements to the core, which is on its<BR>
own pretty impressive. As a commercial entity, Autodesk is in this to<BR>
make money, and will be doing so with a combination of services and<BR>
software sales, similar to the Red Hat model.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Jason<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
_____ <BR>
<BR>
From: Buscher, Shane [</FONT><A HREF="mailto:Shane.Buscher@nngco.com"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">mailto:Shane.Buscher@nngco.com</FONT></U></A><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">]<BR>
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2006 05:45<BR>
To: users@mapguide.osgeo.org<BR>
Subject: [mapguide-users] Commercial vs. Open Source Functionality<BR>
<BR>
All right, I'm a little frustrated at this point trying to figure out<BR>
the current direction of MapGuide OS and MapGuide Commercial. I'm<BR>
trying to choose between several competing technologies in the web<BR>
mapping arena, including ArcIMS, MapGuide OS, MapGuide Commercial, and<BR>
MapServer. <BR>
<BR>
1. Is the MapGuide Studio product going to become strictly a commercial<BR>
product? I see it expires in October. If so, what authoring tool is<BR>
going to be made available for the OS users, if any?<BR>
<BR>
2. There's a lot of vaporware advertising going on, especially in the<BR>
data provider category. I have SQL Server, ArcSDE, and WMS consumption<BR>
requirements. These are documented as being supported, but you quickly<BR>
realize they are not post-install. Are these functionalities only going<BR>
to be made available in the Commercial product? This is what it seems.<BR>
<BR>
What is the general direction for both OS and Commercial? Are they<BR>
going to be one in the same, with only support being the difference<BR>
between the two? Or, will Autodesk just add functionality independently<BR>
of the OS project, leaving the open source community to catch up?<BR>
<BR>
Maybe this is not the right forum to ask these questions, but I don't<BR>
know where else to ask. It's important to know the direction of these<BR>
products, as I'm looking for a long term solution.<BR>
<BR>
Thanks in advance.<BR>
<BR>
Shane Buscher<BR>
GIS/Compliance Systems<BR>
Northern Natural Gas<BR>
402.398.7841<BR>
<BR>
</FONT>
</P>
<BR>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Shane Buscher</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">GIS/Compliance Systems</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Northern Natural Gas</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">402.398.7841</FONT>
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