[Qgis-user] A new chapter in life begins

[Dr. Horst Düster]

Dear colleagues

After 38 years of geoinformatics, geographic information systems, and 
everything related to them, I am now retiring from professional life at 
the end of January and starting a new chapter in my life. It has been an 
eventful time, which began at ESRI in Kranzberg near Munich in 1988. 
While working on my dissertation at the University of Bern, I quickly 
came across open source software and open source GIS. Much to the 
surprise of my colleagues, the GIS of my choice at the time was GRASS. 
It allowed me to do everything I needed for my work. A series of 
fortunate circumstances led to FOSS4G becoming the focus of my work from 
then on. In Solothurn, starting in 1999, all doors were open for my 
FOSS4G ideas, as the canton had decided on a Linux strategy and the 
necessary financial resources were available.

During this time, projects such as UMN MapServer played a key role – 
pragmatic, powerful, and developed by an international community. The 
big gap in the software stack was desktop GIS. Around 2003, I discovered 
Quantum GIS and was very impressed by its potential, even though it was 
still in its infancy and didn't offer much functionality. But if you 
believe in the small, it can become big. Lucky circumstances played a 
role here too, because Marco Hugentobler, one of the core developers of 
Quantum GIS, was based very close to me in Zurich. Now I had money 
available and a developer at my disposal. This laid the foundation for 
the successful development of Quantum GIS, which later became QGIS. 
Marco was able to develop all the functions in Quantum GIS that were 
necessary for the canton of Solothurn's work—data analysis, 
symbolization, digitization, and map production. The world was open to a 
free desktop GIS. Today, QGIS is an indispensable part of 
geoinformatics, but back then we were laughed at.

My special thanks go to the people who made this journey possible: the 
developers, who often worked behind the scenes with great perseverance 
and passion; the colleagues in administration, universities, and offices 
who had the courage to break new ground; and the few who took 
responsibility early on and inspired others to follow suit—in 
Switzerland and around the world. Without this personal commitment, 
without trust, and without sometimes controversial discussions, much of 
this would not have come about.

What has accompanied me all these years has not only been the technical 
excellence of these tools, but above all the community behind them: 
open, critical, helpful, and always ready to share knowledge. This free 
culture has shaped my work and my commitment—and it has made FOSS4G strong.

With great gratitude for all the encounters, discussions, and joint 
projects worldwide, I am now taking a step back from my very active 
professional life. The FOSS4G community is in an excellent position 
today, and I am convinced that it will continue on its successful path. 
The current challenges of our time—the many unhealthy dependencies that 
we saw early on and which are now increasingly being recognized by 
decision-makers—urge us to be vigilant in the face of growing 
authoritarianism and nationalist tendencies, which are regaining 
strength in many parts of the world.

And I will continue to be part of the community, because I am not 
retiring from life. Who knows where we will cross paths, what happy 
circumstances will enrich our lives in the future, and what contribution 
I will make in the future? We will see. Perhaps one or two of my 
companions will read this text and remember moments we shared. That 
would make me very happy.

Thank you for everything. It is a great pleasure and honor for me to be 
part of this development.

See you soon, yours

Horst Düster
horst.duester at kappasys.ch