[In]City software thoughts

You have heard the official recommendation for software for this program, so this post is about free and open-source alternatives to the commercial software.

1. Quantum GIS (QGIS). Like ARC GIS, QGIS creates and edits shapefiles as its standard format, so it is highly interoperable with ESRI's ARC GIS. QGIS is not only free, but it also runs natively on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The core program is small, lightweight, and intuitive, but it also plugs into GRASS, which is a collection of 300+ tools that were written as a GIS program for the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1908s.

2. The GIMP (Graphic Image Manipulation Program). This edits "raster" images such as JPEG, TIFF, GIF, and PNG. It has the same core tools as Photoshop.

3. LibreOffice. This is a full office suite including a word processor (like Word), spreadsheet (like Excel), presentation (like PowerPoint), drawing program, and database program (like FileMaker or Access).

Question #1: Can you really get work done with the free software? Yes, I wrote my dissertation, edited and included several hundred images, and built a GIS model of Kabul with these programs. I used the Ubuntu Linux operating system, which I do not recommend (yet), because it takes a bit of work to get used to the problem-solving culture of Linux.

Question #2: What are the trade-offs? If you plan to work in an office that uses commercial GIS software, you should only use the ESRI software. Why? because QGIS and ARC GIS may have the same tools, but they are in different menu-locations on each program. The amount of time spent learning a different interface can be expensive. On the other hand, if you already understand GIS, but you only use it occasionally, or you want to experiment with it but you aren't sure if you really want to commit to it, QGIS is always there. And once you learn the core concepts (georeferencing, linking spatial entities to database records, geoprocessing), both programs do the same underlying thing. The same trade-offs apply to the GIMP and Libre Office. The LibreOffice interface looks like the Microsoft Office interface pre-2003, so it is actually easier for me to use LibreOffice Writer than a recent version of MS Word.

One other consideration: while you are participating in the [In]City program, you can come to me for support questions. So if you have ever wanted to dip your toe into the open-source pool, just ask Pietro.