Process Awesome GIS

Continuing the discussion from Process the meta awesome list:

I was going to finish processing the meta list before processing a singular list, but I have a project I want to freshen up on as well as learn the current state of online mapping. In that effort I’m gonna process the “Awesome GIS” list:

https://allthe.codes/mirror/awesome-gis

I was starting to process the first entry on the list, but had to submit an edit (MS-Git: Clarify ArcGIS description by maiki · Pull Request #68 · sshuair/awesome-gis · GitHub) to clarify it. :grimacing:

Geographic Information System SoftWare

https://allthe.codes/mirror/awesome-gis#geographic-information-system-software

  • ArcGIS is SaaS and/or propietery Windows software. I’ll only need to know more if I’ve made poor career choices.
  • QGIS - “QGIS is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) licensed under the GNU General Public License. QGIS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). It runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows and Android and supports numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities.”
  • GeoDa - GPL, “designed to facilitate new insights from data analysis by exploring and modeling spatial patterns”
  • GRASS GIS - “Geographic Resources Analysis Support System, commonly referred to as GRASS GIS, is a Geographic Information System (GIS) used for data management, image processing, graphics production, spatial modelling, and visualization of many types of data.” Started in 1982! GPL
  • uDig - “The goal of uDig is to provide a complete Java solution for desktop GIS data access, editing, and viewing.” EPL and BSD
  • gvSIG - user group for “geomatics professionals”, whoever is brave enough to put that on their card… not software.
  • Marble - “Marble is a virtual globe and world atlas — your swiss army knife for maps.” A KDE project!
  • SharpMap - LGPL C# desktop app. I submitted a patch to update the list (MS-Git: Update SharpMap links by maiki · Pull Request #69 · sshuair/awesome-gis · GitHub).
  • OpenJUMP - “OpenJUMP is an open source Geographic Information System (GIS) written in the Java programming language.” GPL
  • Whitebox GAT - “an open-source desktop GIS and remote sensing software package for general applications of geospatial analysis and data visualization” GPL
  • TileMill - “TileMill is no longer in active development. To learn more about our newer mapping tools see Mapbox Studio.” Patch to remove: Remove TileMill and CartoCSS links by maiki · Pull Request #70 · sshuair/awesome-gis · GitHub
  • Global Mapper - ArcGIS alternative. :roll_eyes:
  • OpenOrienteering Mapper - GPL warez for “orienteering”, the new thing I learn today! :slight_smile:
  • Mapinfo - Has the most hilarious sales copy I’ve read, but otherwise skippable.
  • SAGA - a role-playing game system that uses “fate cards” to determine the effects of actions"is the abbreviation for System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses" GPL (LGPL for API, because that makes sense)
  • GISInternals - an funny, ugly website with daily builds of something called GDAL and MapServer.

Hey, only three patches! Not bad. :slight_smile:

Seriously though, most of that is free software, and I’m looking forward to reviewing each.

1 Like

Web Map Server

https://allthe.codes/mirror/awesome-gis#web-map-server

Skipping Remote Sensing Software (definitely don’t need) and 3D application (would be fun to play with). Let’s see how to map on the web!

  • ArcGIS Server - link redirects, but I’m over the novelty of correcting awesome lists…
  • MapServer - “platform for publishing spatial data and interactive mapping applications to the web” MIT
  • GeoServer - “open source server for sharing geospatial data” GPL
  • QGIS Server - Link is dead, and the four QGIS apps appear to be one package. GPL
  • deegree - “open source software for spatial data infrastructures and the geospatial web” LGPL
  • GeoDjango - “intends to be a world-class geographic Web framework” Guessing same license as django
  • mapnik - “combines pixel-perfect image output with lightning-fast cartographic algorithms, and exposes interfaces in C++, Python, and Node” LGPL
  • Geomajas - “open source platform to create Web GIS applications” AGPL. that’s kinda cool. Their clients are weird though, so maybe only the server is interesting.
  • GeoMoose -“Web Client JavaScript Framework for displaying distributed cartographic data” MIT, cute logo; is JS and HTML, so potentially lightweight to host
  • Mapbender - “content management system for geospatial data services and map applications” MIT
  • MapFish - “flexible and complete framework for building rich web-mapping applications” BSD
  • MapGuide - “web-based platform that enables users to develop and deploy web mapping applications and geospatial web services” LGPL
  • Nanocubes - “command-line utility that processes your data and starts a web server to answer query requests” EPL
  • GeoTrellis - “geographic data processing engine for high performance applications” Apache
  • NextGIS Web - “server-side Web GIS and a framework for storage, visualization and permissions management for various kinds of geospatial data and services” GPL
  • OpenMapTiles Server - " deploy world basemap powered by OpenStreetMap and Docker" I can’t find a repo for the actual server…
  • OpenTileServer - " This script is for building a basic tile server with OpenStreetMap data." No license, and little guidance on source licenses
  • SuperMap iServer - 90 day free license! Wow!
  • GeoWebCache - “Java web application used to cache map tiles coming from a variety of sources” LGPL
  • Earth Enterprise - “open source release of Google Earth Enterprise” Apache, for publishing personal map globes…

It’s a feast for map servers!

Front-End Framework

https://allthe.codes/mirror/awesome-gis#front-end-framework

Since so much of online mapping is loading via JavaScript, this is relevant.

  • Leaflet - " open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps" BSD
  • Mapbox GL JS - “JavaScript library that uses WebGL to render interactive maps from vector tiles and Mapbox styles” BSD
  • OpenLayers - “can display map tiles, vector data and markers loaded from any source” BSD
  • three.js - “lightweight, 3D library with a default WebGL renderer” MIT
  • CesiumJS - “geospatial 3D mapping platform for creating virtual globes” Apache
  • three-geo- “three.js based geographic visualization library” MIT
  • L7 - “Large-scale WebGL-powered Geospatial Data Visualization” MIT, in Chinese
  • WebGL Earth - “Open-source virtual planet web application running in any web browser with support for WebGL HTML5 standard” Apache
  • ArcGIS api thing - skip
  • D3.js - “JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data” BSD
  • ECharts - “free, powerful charting and visualization library offering an easy way of adding intuitive, interactive, and highly customizable charts to your commercial products” Apache, also Apache Incubator project
  • Geomajas Client Javascript - " Open source JavaScript mapping API for cool maps and apps" Can’t find a license, but the server is AGPL :thinking:
  • Google Maps API - skip
  • d3-carto-map - “library for creating layer-based maps using D3” Unlicense
  • Turf.js - “Advanced geospatial analysis for browsers and Node.js” MIT
  • Polymaps - “JavaScript library for image- and vector-tiled maps using SVG” BSD
  • jVectorMap - “vector-based, cross-browser and cross-platform component for interactive geography-related data visualization on the web” AGPL/Commercial, probably a skip
  • Tangram - “JavaScript library for rendering 2D & 3D maps live in a web browser with WebGL” MIT
  • Mapv - “library of geography visualization” BSD
  • maptalks.js - “light JavaScript library to create integrated 2D/3D maps” BSD
  • OpenMapTiles - this is the server suite, referenced above.
  • CMV - “community supported open source mapping framework built with the Esri JavaScript API and the Dojo Toolkit” MIT, but ArcGIS focused
  • SuperMap JS client - open source plugin for commercial product
  • d3-geomap - “library for creating geographic maps that are rendered in a Web browser” MIT

So, what did we learn?

  • There are a a handful of libraries being used all over.
  • Mapping libraries hate copyleft protections.