[OSGeo-Discuss] packaging FOSS GIS for Ubuntu in education

[Cameron Shorter]

Lorenzo and others,
Your LiveCD and the UbuntuGIS, DebianGIS is an excellent basis for the 
OSGeo Version Matrix required to seed the building of an *integrated* 
OSGeo stack.

The project dependencies I see are:

OSGeo Packages
+-OSGeo Matrix Project
  +-LiveCD
  +-MandrivaGIS
  +-DebianGIS
    +-UbuntuGIS
      +-Ubuntu
  +-WindowsGIS (yet to be started)
  +-Other distributions

    +-OpenSource Workshops
    +-Documentation

The effort required to achieve all the above is huge. But there are 
already many people working on each of these sections, and by 
integrating our efforts we are all going to benefit.
I hear your call for donations and encourage it. Some people give money, 
others give time. Lets make it easy for people to give time to this 
project as well.

So I suggest the following:
1. Get buy in from the Ubuntu/Debian/Mandriva GIS linux builders. I've 
see Venkatesh has been packaging for Mandriva. Is anyone from 
Ubuntu/Debian communities watching this thread?
If not, lets email them and get their input.

2. Start an OSGeoVersionMatrix project. It could be the liveCD project, 
or start from the versions in the liveCD project. It should contain:
* Web page
* Email list
* Version dependency matrix (how should we store this)
* Build processes
* Test processes
* Release schedule
This project would be an excellent candidate for 
http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/OSGeo_Labs

3. Have projects like UbuntuGIS, DebianGIS, liveCD use the 
OSGeoVersionMatrix as the core for building their own distributions, 
which in turn will ensure that testing, bug fixes etc all feed back into 
the core repository.

---
Do the above steps make sense?

I might be volunteering to help with the initial grunt work.


Lorenzo Becchi wrote:
> Cameron analysis is clear and well centered to me.
> With others, we've started trying to do something in this direction 
> since one year ago.
> it is clear to us that if we base the development of such a platform 
> on volunteers, we will need a long time to succeed. loooong time.
> If we want something for the next year, an investment in time and 
> money is needed.
> I know geeks capable to do the technical part (see: Luca, Jachym and 
> Frankie) but I don't know who's interested to invest enough money on 
> such a project.
>
> with Luca, as a challenge, we've decided to make a donation program 
> for our liveCd. In one year we've collected around 500€ (200 are mine) 
> and we barely pay bandwidth, for the external host. This is just an 
> example, we are not the only ones, but it's clear that without 
> investments there will be poor future for such a thing.
> from the other side, downloads are growing continuously.
>
> try to search for "GIS live Cd" on google, and try to list projects 
> that made more then one distro for longer then a year. Please, don't 
> stop reading google list, go and see those pages, most of projects 
> barely have a home page or are off since long.
>
> ciao
> Lorenzo
>
>
>
>
> Cameron Shorter wrote:
>> Gavin, I think the time is ripe to consolidate upon this goal.
>> I'd like to expand the goal a bit and then break it down into 
>> achievable steps.
>>
>> *The goal:*
>> Powerful, Simple, Used, Integrated, Open Source Geospatial Applications
>>
>> *Current status*
>> We already have powerful applications, but we still need geeks if you 
>> want to install and then use a full stack of OSGeo software.
>> Our applications are often easy to install by themselves, but project 
>> release schedules are independent of each other and it is hard to 
>> keep up with which versions of software work with each other.
>> Documentation and training material is still in an early phase. This 
>> material needs to be cross project, and matched to the software 
>> versions too.
>>
>> *Key Steps*
>> *Set up project version dependency table*
>> A table which lists for each project version, the other project 
>> versions it depends upon.
>> This dependency table can be used by UbuntuGIS, DebianGIS, liveCD, a 
>> windows packager etc.
>> For this we should be able to tap into expertise from liveCD and 
>> linux distribution communities.
>> Once this dependency table exists, the onus on maintaining it will 
>> become the responsibility of projects (and become an entry criteria 
>> for OSGeo projects).
>> For efficiency, it would probably help to set a release timetable for 
>> snap shots of the dependency list, which should be timed to link with 
>> with other distributions.
>>
>> *OSGeo Workshops & Tutorials*
>> * I see an immediate opportunity to present OSGeo Workshops at 
>> Geospatial Conferences. Agencies want to learn about OSGeo, and 
>> workshops are a great advertising tool for companies looking for 
>> OSGeo work.
>> * Together we can collectively build some quality documentation here, 
>> and we have the resources (potential presenters) to develop the 
>> documentation.
>> * These workshops require a stable set of software, so should be able 
>> to seed the dependency table as well.
>>
>> *Further documentation*
>> Comprehensive documentation which has already started in the 
>> education committee should be able to tap into and get a boost from 
>> the workshops and tutorials. I'll let others comment on the path this 
>> should take.
>>
>>
>> Gavin Fleming wrote:
>>> While Venka is on the topic of packaging FOSS GIS for Ubuntu, I'd like
>>> to put a niche request / challenge to the community.
>>>
>>> High schools in South Africa and elsewhere need a FOSS alternative to
>>> use and teach GIS, which is a compulsory part of the syllabus from this
>>> year. FOSS GIS at present is too inaccessible. My challenge is to 
>>> have a
>>> packaged CD for Ubuntu to launch at FOSS4G2008 in Cape Town. This CD 
>>> (or
>>> DVD) would have:
>>>
>>> -one-click installation for Linux, Windows or Mac.
>>> -Integrated software stack so teachers and learners have to launch a
>>> minimal number of applications
>>> -Simplified and customised GUIs to lower the entry threshold.
>>> -for teachers to teach curriculum requirements of GIS
>>> -for teachers to use GIS to teach geography and other subjects
>>> -for learners to use for hands-on work
>>> -Free, integrated global and local data package
>>> -excellent documentation
>>> -framework for local contributors to structure and contribute 
>>> exercises,
>>> lessons, etc. -central website for resources -possible advanced 
>>> options for network deployment, more sophisticated
>>> users, 'computer studies' learners (i.e. developers), school web map
>>> services, etc.
>>>
>>> Any takers?
>>>
>>> Gavin
>>>
>>>
>>
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-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Systems Architect
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

Think Globally, Fix Locally
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