[OSGeo-Discuss] FOSS GIS in India

[Markus Neteler]

On 8/10/07, H. S. Rai <hardeep.rai at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 8/10/07, RAVI KUMAR <ravivundavalli at yahoo.com> wrote:
...
> > including the IITs( top educational institutes of the
> > land). All of them teach proprietary GIS (ARC and
> > ERDAS) and  image processing software. The reason,
> > they are driven by the industry's needs, and it is a
> > fact that jobs are there for those well versed in
> > proprietary software.
>
> This is wrong message, but it is there. If one is proficient in one
> software, will also be proficient in other similar software with a
> little orientation. One who drive "Honda City" well also drive
> "Mitsubishi Lancer" well. Educational institutes has responsibility to
> make their students versatile, which may done by introducing FOSS
> software and comparing features with proprietary software.

I fully agree. University and other educational institutions should
NOT teach how to click buttons but have to teach concepts.

Having a good GIS background, it's rather easy to switch between
different software products. As a first approach, switching from
purely proprietary solutions to mixed solutions is a possibility
to make more people familiar with the advantages of Free Software.
Take one computer and install the OSGeo software stack on it
and let people try. Then slowly expand it...

Regards,
Markus