world freemap agg/gd view

[John Smith]

here's nicking mapnik:

it is a case of style over substance when style (looking good) is over
substance (limited data sources it can handle).

we all know it is easier to ramp up style than substance. mapserver
with agg is proving that.

let's see how many eyes check the mapnik code? how many users have
given it a real-life test drive? how many users support its mailing
list (started jan 2006)? v. the same numbers for mapserver?

http://www.mapnik.org/faq/
"Which platforms does it run on? What about Mac and Windows?"
"At the moment only Linux OS is supported."
: talk about substance, doesn't even support half of the lamp stack
(mysql and php) either. like i was saying "not time/market-tested."

to imply that mapserver "suffers from design decisions made a decade
ago" or "re-invents the wheel" is pure fud. whoever put it on the faq
should take it off.

jzs

On 8/3/07, Gregor Mosheh <gregor at hostgis.com> wrote:
> John Smith wrote:
> > not flame but couldn't resist coz below doesn't sound right
>
> heh  heh  Now we get into debating MS vs Mapnik?
> These things usually turn religious in nature. ;)
>
> But I'd say that both of these remarks are a bit uncharitable, in my
> opinion.
>
>  > Mapnik is about making beautiful maps.
>  > a case of style over substance??
>
> A case of, as someone else put it today, meeting the bar which Google
> Maps raised over 2 years ago. Fact is, while you and I care about the
> data, our paying customers want their maps to look good.
>
> Nothing wrong with that at all, as long as stability and performance can
> be had as well. And Mapnik doesn't suffer on either of those. (though it
> is limited in the variety of data sources it can handle: PostGIS,
> shapefile, TIFF)
>
>  > in modern C++ and doesn't suffer from design decisions
>  > made a decade ago.
>  > : meaning not time-tested??
>
> Mapnik is some 2 years old and has many happy users; not too shabby by
> open-source standards. To make remarks about it being time tested, in
> the shadow of Mapserver's "5.0.0 beta 2", just seems a bit... you know. :)
>
> --
> Gregor Mosheh / Greg Allensworth
> System Administrator, HostGIS cartographic development & hosting services
> http://www.HostGIS.com/
>
> "Remember that no one cares if you can back up,
>   only if you can restore." - AMANDA