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<TITLE>Commercial vs. Open Source Functionality</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">All right, I'm a little frustrated at this point trying to figure out the current direction of MapGuide OS and MapGuide Commercial. I'm trying to choose between several competing technologies in the web mapping arena, including ArcIMS, MapGuide OS, MapGuide Commercial, and MapServer. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">1. Is the MapGuide Studio product going to become strictly a commercial product? I see it expires in October. If so, what authoring tool is going to be made available for the OS users, if any?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">2. There's a lot of vaporware advertising going on, especially in the data provider category. I have SQL Server, ArcSDE, and WMS consumption requirements. These are documented as being supported, but you quickly realize they are not post-install. Are these functionalities only going to be made available in the Commercial product? This is what it seems. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">What is the general direction for both OS and Commercial? Are they going to be one in the same, with only support being the difference between the two? Or, will Autodesk just add functionality independently of the OS project, leaving the open source community to catch up? </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Maybe this is not the right forum to ask these questions, but I don't know where else to ask. It's important to know the direction of these products, as I'm looking for a long term solution.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Thanks in advance.</FONT>
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<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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