[mapserver-users] Need info about MapServer

[Jeff McKenna]

Hi Jeremiah,

Welcome to you from the MapServer community.  I'm sure that you'll find 
this community very responsive to your questions, and you'll fall in 
love with MapServer like the rest of us :)  Also, be sure to search the 
mailing list archives as you travel down this path, as some of your 
questions that you have could have been answered before: 
http://osgeo-org.1560.x6.nabble.com/MapServer-f4226623.html

My thoughts on your questions are inline below:

>
> 1. What is the licensing policy followed by MapServer ? Can I use it
> inside my application ?

MapServer has a very open license, often referred to as an "MIT" 
license, which means that you can do whatever you need to with the 
software (modify, add, re-sell, etc.).  Basically there are no 
limitations on your use.  The full license text lives at 
http://mapserver.org/copyright.html#license

> 2. What are the applications that are using Mapserver currently ? Can I
> get some list of these applications ?

This is difficult to answer, as MapServer has been around for so long 
(Open Sourced around 1999).  It would be great to point you to an 
accurate list of applications, we've sure tried to start that list over 
the years, but the community didn't really caught on to that.  Here are 
some old attempts anyway:

- site gallery, on Github: 
https://github.com/mapserver/mapserver/wiki/MapServer-Site-Gallery

- old site gallery on Trac: 
https://trac.osgeo.org/mapserver/wiki/MapServerSites

Maybe your question will spawn some readers to add their own sites onto 
the Github page, I hope so.

I think I can answer your question a different way.  We develop and 
maintain MapServer for Windows "MS4W" (http://www.ms4w.com), and I 
myself track downloads and installations as close as possible.  The 
numbers are huge, and increasing: averaging over 5,000 downloads a 
month, and over 10,000 visitors a month to its pages.  So when you 
realize that each of those downloads has a license, and then realize 
this is only one platform (Windows), you get a sense of how many 
MapServer deployments are out there.

> 3. Are there any performance numbers on mapserver interms of how many
> users it can support and the recommended hardware requirements for
> certain type of deployment ?
>

In terms of performance, MapServer participated in many benchmarking 
exercises as part of past FOSS4G events, where development teams from 
GeoServer, MapServer, QGIS Server, Esri, etc. compared performance on a 
common architecture.  Do some googling for "WMS Benchmarking" and you 
will find access to the raw numbers.  You can also find the presentation 
online, here is an example from 2011: 
http://www.slideshare.net/gatewaygeomatics.com/wms-performance-shootout-2011 
  There you will discover why MapServer is often referred to as the 
"cheetah" of the mapping world: extremely fast, and fully customizable.

Also, just for your own information, in case you are wondering how the 
MapServer project is managed: MapServer has a Project Steering Committee 
(PSC) that manages changes to the software.  Read more about how that 
works here: http://mapserver.org/development/rfc/ms-rfc-23.html

Again, welcome to you from the big and fun MapServer community! :)

-jeff


-- 
Jeff McKenna
MapServer Consulting and Training Services
http://www.gatewaygeomatics.com/