[OSGeo Africa] Autodesk announces third major donation to opensource community

Wed Aug 6 02:40:15 EDT 2008

Autodesk Contributes Coordinate System Software to the Open Source
Community

Open Source Technology Continues to Gain Momentum with Geospatial
Professionals

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. Aug. 4, 2008 - Autodesk, Inc., (NASDAQ: ADSK) today 
announced that it has donated the source code for CS-Map coordinate
system 
technology to the open source community and is seeking to establish it
as part 
of an official OSGeo Foundation project for coordinate reference
systems. The 
contribution represents Autodesk's third major contribution to the open
source 
community, following its MapGuide Open Source and Feature Data Object
(FDO) 
Data Access Technology donations.

"This contribution advances OSGeo's mission of supporting and building
the 
highest quality open source geospatial software," said Frank Warmerdam, 
president of the OSGeo Foundation.  "Opening the CS-Map source code will
ensure 
that all organizations and developers have access to this
industrial-quality 
comprehensive library of map projections and coordinate systems,
including 
several capabilities not previously available in open source."

"Autodesk recognizes the central values of open source community and
enterprise 
development, including faster innovation, more frequent product updates
and 
lower overall cost of ownership," said Lisa Campbell, vice president,
Autodesk 
Geospatial. "By contributing the code for CS-Map, Autodesk hopes to meet
users' 
needs while continuing to encourage community participation in software
and 
application development."

Coordinate System Technology Integral to Geospatial Analysis

CS-Map is a coordinate system and map projection library that enables
users to 
more easily support geographic coordinate conversions and allow accurate
and 
precise geospatial analysis. It currently supports a library of more
than 3,000 
map projections and coordinate systems. Coordinate systems are
fundamental 
pieces of any mapping or geospatial application and are constantly being
added 
and updated. With open source code, the open source community will be
able to 
develop coordinate conversions as needed and give organizations and
developers 
access to this critical piece of technology.

Autodesk acquired CS-Map through its acquisition of Mentor Software in 
September 2007. CS-Map is currently embedded in most Autodesk geospatial

products, including AutoCAD Map 3D and Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise.

Open Source Geospatial Projects See Further Adoption

OSGeo currently hosts 15 open source geospatial projects, including
MapGuide 
Open Source and FDO Data Access Technology. Since the organization's
founding 
in 2006, its projects now represent code contributions from more than
200 
developers including a base of more than 6 million lines of code.

The MapGuide Open Source project also announced the addition of MapGuide

Maestro to the project, which is a new map authoring tool for MapGuide
Open 
Source. MapGuide Maestro is a free application that eases the management
of 
spatial data in MapGuide Open Source and has specialized interfaces for
editing 
the following components of MapGuide Open Source: feature sources, Layer

definitions, Map Definitions, Web Layouts and Fusion Layouts.

Organizations large and small are reaping the benefits of the continual
updates 
from the community. The Resort Municipality of Whistler, British
Columbia has 
adopted MapGuide Open Source to help promote Whistler2020-a program
aimed at 
preserving Whistler's environment with sustainable, eco-friendly
practices. 
KidsGIS, an eco-friendly GIS portal developed by volunteers from the
geospatial 
field to teach children about the environment, includes an online
mapping 
application built on MapGuide Open Source. Both projects also draw on
FDO Data 
Access Technology to incorporate data from multiple sources.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the 
manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment
markets. 
Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has
developed the 
broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art digital prototyping solutions to
help 
customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000
companies 
rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze
real-world 
performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance
quality 
and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit 
www.autodesk.com.

# # #

Autodesk, AutoCAD and Autodesk MapGuide are registered trademarks of
Autodesk, 
Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. OSGeo and Open Source
Geospatial 
Foundation are trademarks of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation in
the USA 
and/or other countries. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product
offerings 
and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible
for 
typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. All
other 
brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective
holders.