
- #BEST OPEN SOURCE GIS SOFTWARE FOR MAC PORTABLE#
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- #BEST OPEN SOURCE GIS SOFTWARE FOR MAC MAC#
Tsou has determined, the use of open source in the following situations makes a lot of sense:
#BEST OPEN SOURCE GIS SOFTWARE FOR MAC SOFTWARE#
Access to software such as open source GIS has become a cost-effective, viable alternative to proprietary packages. In fact, in higher education today we are seeing more geospatial-as-general-education course offerings, and more "spatial" classes (such as geography, geology, anthropology, business, etc.) augmented with a geospatial technology component. In addition to businesses, more and more colleges and universities are recognizing the need for students to be not only computer literate and proficient in language and math, but also spatially literate. He has limited financial resources, with a business model well-suited to GIS. This person is a great example of an individual who could use open source software. Moments later, I was biting into the sandwich that he'd purchased for me on the airplane. I described to him how a GIS could be beneficial to his company. I told him that I'm a professor at a college, specializing in geospatial technologies. What worked for him in the past is no longer working, and his business is struggling.

The environment for his business, however, is changing. Most of his advertising has been by simple word of mouth and decades of referrals. He's owned the business for three decades - inherited it from his dad - and he's done well, well enough to make a living.
#BEST OPEN SOURCE GIS SOFTWARE FOR MAC PORTABLE#
He designs and builds portable swimming pools. It turned out that he was a small business owner in upstate New York. The person sitting next to me was intrigued by the technology and we started talking about our respective professions.

And if they didn't know to start with, when they hear about it, they want to know more.Īs I write this article, I'm flying home from Washington, D.C., writing on my iPad. Today, more businesses are recognizing the power of spatial awareness than ever before. Spatial literacy, although always important, is now overtly present in our lives. "Geospatial" is all around us - in the maps we see on TV, in our cars with their navigation systems, in our phones with their embedded and/or Web accessed maps. This increase can be attributed, in part, to the increase in spatial awareness. The interest in GIS software has increased markedly over the past decade.
#BEST OPEN SOURCE GIS SOFTWARE FOR MAC DOWNLOAD#
For those institutions that don't have a dedicated GIS computer lab, or for those institutions seeking to create an online course, the ability of students to download and use software regardless of their operating system is a huge benefit. So, if you have students using a Macintosh, they would still be able to download and use the open source product.
#BEST OPEN SOURCE GIS SOFTWARE FOR MAC MAC#
Most open source GIS desktop programs will work on both Windows and Mac systems (in addition to Linux). The beauty of open source software is that it often works across multiple operating system platforms.
#BEST OPEN SOURCE GIS SOFTWARE FOR MAC FREE#
The software ranges in price from free to relatively low cost. Open source software can be freely accessed, freely used and freely modified by its users. I said, "Open source? Does that mean free?"

Ming said, "There are some nice open source GIS desktop programs available." Ming Tsou at San Diego State University (SDSU), and asked him if he had any recommendations. I called my very knowledgeable friend, Dr. In defense of Google Earth, the product has evolved significantly over the past few years, allowing users to import KML files, GPS data points and a variety of other useful variables. I knew of other free products such as Google Earth but Google Earth, albeit a wonderful visualization tool, was quite limited in analysis. A GIS course that relied exclusively on AEJEE would reach its ceiling very quickly. With AEJEE, you can classify and symbolize shapefiles, integrate image data, project on-the-fly shapefiles and use data over the Internet. AEJEE is a lightweight GIS tool for exploring geographic data. At that time, the only free resource with which I had experience was Esri ArcExplorer Java Edition for Educators (AEJEE). He asked me if there were any worthwhile free applications that could be used for the class. The caveat was that he had no money to purchase software. He wanted to teach students the fundamentals of GIS and spatial analysis, both concepts and applications. A few years ago, a colleague at another institution asked my advice about offering a GIS class at his campus.
