[OSGeo-Discuss] Whitebox GAT

[Arnulf Christl (aka Seven)]

On Wed, 2010-03-24 at 10:45 -0400, John Lindsay wrote:
> Hello, 
> 
> I wanted to let you know about a new open-source GIS project that I
>  have initiated called Whitebox Geospatial Analysis Tools. Whitebox GAT
>  is a user-friendly and expendable GIS with significant capabilities
>  for spatial analysis. In developing Whitebox GAT I have taken a
>  transparent approach to the open-source paradigm. That is, if the user
>  would like to know how a particular tool's algorithm works, they need
>  not download the source code and wade through the immense code base to
>  find the few lines of relevant code. Instead, each tool has a 'View
>  Code' button that will bring up the specific code related to the tool.
>  Furthermore, they are able to convert the code into other programming
>  languages. The idea is to remove some of the barriers that exist
>  between the developer community and the user community. 

John, 
this project is highly interesting, also in view of recent tendencies to
transport code across the web to do things on data instead of the other
way round (good for some funny discussions in the OGC WPS working group
too...). 

> My analogy is
>  that commercial software 

If I may interrupt rudely and point out that you probably mean
"proprietary software". We try to use correct terminology to avoid
making people believe that Free and Open Source Software cannot be used
commercially. Just a side note...

> is like a locked library where only a few
>  select individuals have the right to access the information contained
>  within; most open source software packages, at least from the
>  viewpoint of the user, is like a public library but there is no
>  cataloging system and the books are all written in Greek; Whitebox is
>  much more like the Internet. You can download Whitebox GAT from:
> 
> http://www.uoguelph.ca/~hydrogeo/Whitebox/index.html
> 
> I'd certainly appreciate any feedback that you may have.

As already said above, this is a highly interesting approach, thanks for
getting it started. 

Best regards, 
Arnulf 

> John Lindsay, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
> Dept. of Geography, Univ. of Guelph
> Guelph, Ont. N1G 2W1   CANADA
> Phone: (519) 824-4120 x56074
> Fax: (519) 837-2940
> Email:  jlindsay at uoguelph.ca
> Department Web: www.uoguelph.ca/geography/
> Personal Web: http://www.uoguelph.ca/geography/faculty/lindsay.html
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