[OSGeo-Edu] Getting Started on the Free GIS Book...

[P Kishor]

On 12/19/06, Landon Blake <lblake at ksninc.com> wrote:

>
> I'd like to get started on the Free GIS Book in a few days. I think there
> are a couple of issues that need to get nailed down before I throw in a
> bunch of effort on the book.

welcome.


> [1] Is there someone taking the lead on this project? Is there a person that
> I can ask for final decisions on things like the book's content, style, and
> format?

eventual look and style might have to correspond to OSGeo's identity
and branding, and thus, maybe up to OSGeo Visibility or other
committees. In any case, a bridge a bit far away to worry about
crossing right now.


> [2] Do we have a target audience for the book? Are we writing for an
> international audience, for GIS beginners or experienced professionals?

This is an issue with less than complete clarity. A corollary is -- is
the book about a specific tool (MapServer or scripting or QGIS), or is
it about the theory of GIS? There are many free (at least as in beer)
GIS courses out there, and there are tutorials for tools as well out
there. What gap is the book going to fill? I have no clear direction
on this.


> [3] What license will we use to release the material of book? I was thinking
> about the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5
> License. You can find details about the license here:
> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/25/

Once again, I would assume that this would be governed by the overall
leaning of the foundation itself. From past discussions, a completely
free, non-restrictive (aka, use it for commercial purposes if your
heart so desires) license.


> Basically the license allows the text to be freely distributed and modified,
> but not for commercial purposes, and any modified text must be released
> under the same license.

many here, including myself, would not like to restrict its use for
commercial or any purposes.


> [4] I had also planned on starting a "math for maps" chapter of the book. I
> realize now that this may be a little too broad of a subject, and may even
> deserve a separate "book". I can address this at some point in the future.
> So I thought I would instead start with an introductory chapter that defines
> GIS. After that I might tackle a couple of chapters on common GIS data
> formats.

actually, there is little dearth of introductory material, while "math
for maps" not only sounds interesting and intriguing enough, it also
sounds focused enough to start working on it right away (indeed, it is
a really wonderful chapter title). I would say, go for math for maps.



-- 
Puneet Kishor http://punkish.eidesis.org/
Nelson Inst. for Env. Studies, UW-Madison http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/
Open Source Geospatial Foundation https://edu.osgeo.org/
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