Thanks for all the great posts over the last two weeks, some really strong opinions and excellent comments! Marcus Young (our excellent e-tutor) shared this link with me this week as a great discussion topic.
When we took over this module it taught databases using Microsoft Access with NO spatial queries. Now we have changed the module to ONLY open source software (MySQL, PostgreSQL, PostGIS and QGIS) with a very strong spatial dimension.
If you haven't posted a comment for week 1 or week 2 you must do so by 8pm tonight (13th) - any posts after today will not count for week 1 or 2.
Paul McKenzie
I wish I was typing this on an Arduino running linux ... alas, 'tis a Toshiba running Win10. But it al least at least with an open source browser (firefox), open source office suite (open office) and newly installed open source DBMS - thanks to UU :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that many of you share this preference for open source. I love the idea of using something that has been shared voluntarily and with the good will of helping mankind.
Faced with a world where you can be killed by terrorists for eating on a restaurant terrace .... it feels good that the world is becoming a better place at least in some ways.
Ordnance Survey (OS) has a lot of its data as open source e.g. Code-point (postcodes), OS Open Roads, OS Boundary lines, OS Open Rivers and Gazetteer. Sadly we don’t have the same access to the equivalent data for Northern Ireland from OSNI/LPS.
ReplyDeleteWhen studying with the Open University, they changed their virtual learning environment software to ‘Moodle’ or muddle as it was nicknamed when it first came out (the equivalent of Blackboard). It just took people a little while to get used to the different style of it.
As for hardware, an example that may pave the way for future changes comes from the Open Compute Organisation (http://opencompute.org/).
Founded initially by one of the Facebook team, they decided to publish specifications/designs for the hardware used in a new data centre they built including things such as motherboards, power supply, server chassis, server rack, and battery cabinets. Since then some powerful names have joined the project including Microsoft, Apple, Intel and Goldman Sachs.
Businesses and education can benefit greatly from using open source products.
Although the Open Compute Project may be seen to only apply to big companies needing large data centres, some of the concepts or future developments may trickle down to smaller style companies at some stage.
Hi Laura,
DeleteGood news about OSNI/LPS Open Data - as of next week they will be providing some open data. Namely 10k Raster, 10m & 50m DTM. I agree that OS are a great source!
I knew that the civil service departments, councils and some other agencies had access to limited OSNI/LPS data under the NIMA (NI Mapping Agreement). That's great news about some open data.
DeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI think the open source movement is a very good thing. Before watching the video I was only aware of open source software and data so had to do a little bit more reading on how open source hardware is even possible! It seems to be a really great asset to businesses as it allows the customer to open and modify the product and they can also share improvement ideas which will further the development of the product. It seems to be a fairly new thing (maybe I am wrong there) and many companies are changing their products to be open source so I think that can only be beneficial in the future.
I think having open source software is also a great idea as many organisations, like charities, may not be able to afford programmes such as ArcGIS in order to analyse data, therefore a free (or relatively cheap) alternative is something that will benefit them. As it is open source, updates can be made constantly and the quality of the programme may be better, as more people have an input in its development.
I'm sure we can all agree that open source data is very useful for research and I agree with Laura that it is a shame we don't have access to a lot of data for Northern Ireland. Typical to be behind the times.
Overall, I think open source is the way forward. I realise that you still have to consider the negative aspects such as freely available data being exploited, but I think it could apply to all types and sizes of companies in the future, as Laura finished off with.
I also agree with Justin that it is great that everyone can come together to create something that everyone can use. It is a much needed reminder that we can still do that!
I agree with Rachel completely in that although there are possible negative aspects Open Source is the way forward! Like most things in life there are good points and bad points,but in thi case, Open Source could become an asset for the industry.
DeleteThe open source movement to me is basically a knowledge sharing exercise, and when has anyone not benefited from knowledge sharing? It was not so long ago that powerful technology was only available to the very elite and focussed mainly in the academic arena. I agree with Rachel OS is the way forward. Now thanks to OS, even 3rd world country populations have access to hardware like the Raspberry Pi coupled with OS software, which could realistically inspire the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs!
ReplyDeleteWell maybe not Steve, as he notoriously couldn't code :P
DeleteHi Kevin, That's an interesting point linking open source to knowledge sharing. The 3rd world not only has access to OS software, but also an excellent encyclopedia (even if you don't believe the blogs saying that Wikipedia is nearly as accurate as the Encyclopedia Britannica) and the wide wealth of information that's available on the internet. This is my hope for the future ... as knowledge is shared, people worldwide will become less ignorant and consequently more tolerant. Logically, prejudice and war will become obsolete. Alas, it seems that we're not quite there yet ;-)
DeleteHi everyone!
ReplyDeleteEveryone has made fair points and I agree with them all where Open Source is a good thing as companies who are just starting to implement GIS in their organization might find some of these software very expensive. Open source offers a cheap and easy alternative to buying software.
I am very new to the use of databases, but I can see the how very useful softwares like MySQL etc, can be to a company that has a large collection of data that they need to control such as schools and councils and other busineses. In the video, Don commented on three fundamental factors of Open source which is volume, velocity and variety, all of which speaks to how rapid Open Source has developed as well as how needed it is.
I agree completely with Steve that it is entirely a knowledge sharing exercise and is a much needed advancement.
Knowledge is power!
ReplyDeleteData sharing, be that biodiversity data or software is a good thing, ultimately it empowers people to make decisions in a more informed way.
I completely agree with Justin that this is one area where the world is becoming a better place! Without Facebook and Google maps there are thousands of Syrian refugees who otherwise might not have made it.
That is all I have to say about opensource! :)
I fully agree that data sharing is a good thing. Not only does it inform decision making, it also reduces the costs and time spent collecting data. Its much easier to take data from another source and edit it to suit your needs than to create it from scratch.
DeleteI think that all other points made above are valid too but the idea of opensource being a way where business can benefit mankind in a positive and philanthropic way gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and helps me feel not all is bad with the world.
ReplyDeleteHow people choose to exploit it is entirely up to them and their moral scruples, but I like to think there are more of us good out there than bad.
Hi
ReplyDeleteOpen source has one distinct advantage over traditional closed models in that the source code can be accessed, viewed and modified by anyone. Allowing ordinary users free accesses to programs can lead to some rather creative thinking resulting in programs that can solve a number of problems due to the large scale number of people that could be working on a particular problem. With regards to GIS open source can enable a business to adapt programs there particular business making the overall process more efficient.
Open source hardware can be a lot cheaper than traditional large cooperation’s models leading to an overall lower running cost for a business. I myself am not very tech minded in this way but it is clear even to me the advantages that can come from open source as you are not restricted in any way shape or form allowing the user to create whatever they want.
Hi Nigel
DeleteWith regards to your first advantage which I do agree with to an extent, however do you not think that this can also be seen as a disadvantage as well? This could result in data being edited and used for the wrong purpose.
Just to share a personal experience that might help those who are not in the IT industry ...
ReplyDeleteI work with a large ERP system that is not open source, but the source code is visible (and edittable!) to organisations who have paid for the licence. Like every organisation, we use the system in ways that are not 100% standard. Every organisation varies slightly in their procedures, structure, etc simply because they are facing different challenges to other organisations.
Bugs come up in the system. It would probably surprise you how often, and we can be faced with a situation where we can't pay a vendor, or can't issue a contract to a partner. When this happens, we raise an incident with the vendor of the ERP system ... however often times the development team can actually see what is wrong and can fix it themselves much quicker than the the vendor can respond. So often they'll edit the source code. Job done :-)
Out of a spirit of cooperation (and ensure the solution is accurately integrated into the next version) the team will share the solution with the software vendor. Everyone benefits.
There are a couple of open source ERP systems available. And my guess is that they will get better and better and will reach the point that large organisations can start to use them. When that happens, you'll have IT professionals whose vested interests are to have the system working and it'll accelerate their development.
I work in IT as well and am on the receiving end of resolving incidents. Often these are because something is not being used for what it was originally designed for as times have moved on. It's good that you have agreements with your vendors that you can make changes as well.
DeleteI work in IT as well and am on the receiving end of resolving incidents. Often these are because something is not being used for what it was originally designed for as times have moved on. It's good that you have agreements with your vendors that you can make changes as well.
DeleteThere are many benefits of Open Source data - security, cost, support through other users and forums, being able to customise. The list goes on. From my experience, I was under the impression it only related to data, I had no idea hardware came into play - although I think it's brilliant! For smaller businesses starting out that don't want to spend huge amounts of money on hardware they aren't quite sure about, open source is a great alternative.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the others who have expressed the feeling that knowledge is power - the world is advancing each day as more knowledge is shared.
I agree with you Alice that open source is very beneficial in particular for smaller companies who don't have enough funds for expensive software. Even for all companies when something is free or cheap and it does as good a job as expensive software then it would be silly not to use it.
DeleteI share the same sentiments as Alice, I had no idea open source data included hardware! However a quick Google search lead to over an hour of research on the topic and it has been extremely interesting. There is no doubt that the sharing of data benefits everyone, I was even able to find out the air quality of my own area! (http://airqualityegg.com/) In terms of software, the benefits are there for all to see. I remember as an undergrad at a University that didn't provide Microsoft Office, LibreOffice was a life saver!
ReplyDeleteI’m always surprised that in what can be a rather selfish and grasping world (embodied by our friends at Goldman Sachs!) that there is so much open source software and data freely available. I find it inspiring that such complex and useful software (and data) is made available and in the spirit of collaboration. When users are treated as co-developers this can ensure that bugs are identified and solved early and that code can be updated sooner rather than later. And it hadn’t occurred to me before that factual data cannot be copyrighted and I guess this is one of the fundamental precepts of open data.
ReplyDeleteIn the recent Future Open Source survey (May 2015) the results showed that apparently 78% of those who responded use open source software to run their businesses and two thirds of those building software for their customers which is based on open source.
Although there will probably always be proprietary software it would appear that open source is becoming the dominant approach for new software for business purposes. This a long way from 2001 when Microsoft apparently described open source as a “cancer”.
I agree with you. Open Source has benefited many business in recent years in helping to improve both software and hardware (hardware I just became aware was apart of the Open Source body).
DeleteThe open source movement has greatly expanded in recent years. One of the main advantages of open source is the fact that much of the software is free of charge (or relatively cheap). Therefore this is a welcomed benefit to businesses who want to implement GIS when software such as ArcGIS is too expensive. They can use freely available software for example, QGIS. Also with regards to databases we are currently using open source software in the form of MySQL, Postgres and PostGIS.
ReplyDeleteAnother benefit of open source is the interoperability with different programmes and also as Colin has mentioned the positive aspect of sharing data with everyone. Personally I never knew that hardware could be open sourced until watching this youtube clip, however it is still lagging behind open source software and data.
Finally I agree with Rachel that open source is the way forward, but with all the freely available data there does run the risk of data being misused.
I was shocked to hear that such a thing as ‘open source hardware’ even exists! Being relatively new to the entire GIS industry I’m always impressed by this ever-expanding section of technology. As outlined by Rachel, the benefits of Open Source are endless. Companies can take this free software and build upon them, producing meaningful and useful outputs for minimal to zero cost. In turn, the lack of cost enables charities and non-profit businesses to incorporate the technology into their plans. Given that Open Source is ‘peer-reviewed’ the software is also reasonably reliable in my opinion. Constant developments and updates to the software also reinforce the reliability such as can be seen within PostgresSQL which has been advancing rapidly since it was first created.
ReplyDeleteThe benefits of Open Source Hardware also strikes me as extremely useful in that it provides people with the freedom to update and change their technology/ hardware whenever is needed. Unlike with most technology today, Open Source hardware enables the individual to control the equipment and how it is used etc… which is an incredible advancement for the technology industry.
Overall, I believe that Open Source seems to be the ‘way forward’ and could prove to be invaluable in the future!
Similarly to some others above I had never heard of open-source hardware, but found it really interesting to read up a little about it. It would be really beneficial to smaller manufacturing businesses and also promotes the idea of freedom to use and modify information. Open source data is clearly beneficial, allowing huge opportunities for research, creates transparency for governments and opens up the availability of data for those who wouldn’t previously had chance to access it.
ReplyDeleteIn general the open-source movement levels the playing field for smaller businesses to participate in the global economy where they otherwise may not be able to compete. Programmers can write programs to rival proprietary software already available and make improvements for the whole community. It also allows programmers to work on and improve code that they are interested in (as opposed to just for monetary gain). In general it essentially has created a globalisation of the market whereby users are not restricted by financial restraints or license acquisition for open source software.
Like a lot of the comments have already mentioned, I was also surprised to discover how much variety there now is regarding open source. I only associated open source with software which I presumed to be cheaper and therefore weaker than their more expensive alternatives. From watching the video and reading the comments I can see that there is a lot more to open source than this.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that open source is highly valuable to businesses that want to keep costs down, but it also creates opportunities to adapt and to mould the technology to their specific needs. This should increase business efficiency by reducing their reliance on closed source developers. I think it is in the interests of most organisations to have more freedom to suit their own needs and that a move away from closed source monopolies by companies such as ESRI can only be beneficial.
Another advantage of open source is that its wide availability and customisation opportunities will increase the number of organisations producing useful data. From a GIS perspective it can only be a good thing to have more organisations with the capability to produce their own data using open source technologies and then for others to be able to access this data to use for their own research.
It looks like we are all agreeing the same lines here, that opensource has had a substantial impact on our world in a relatively short period of time. Who knew that a service like this could impact so many people and businesses (in terms of the amount of data available and how fast it can all be joined together) in a positive way. We most definitely wouldn't be in this situation today if it wasn't for the use of the internet itself. Like a few of the others above I am relatively new to the world of GIS and had to do a little background reading to get to grips with these new concepts. The benefits of opensource is endless and have truly transformed how businesses operate. However just as a few of you have mentioned my main concern over this service is how easily the data can be abused and edited. What I wasn't aware of was that an opensource hardware existed as well? When i first heard about the this weeks blog post i couldn't quite get my head around the concept but after some light reading I think it is a great idea that this sort of service and information is readily available alongside the opensource software as well. What I think is most beneficial about these two concepts is that its not just business which use them its charities as well. I'm sure many businesses could afford to pay for these services if this free option wasn't available. But as it is free charities who may not be in a stable financial position can use these services for free which allows them to still carry out their work in their communities.
ReplyDeleteI think open source software, hardware and access to data is very good. For example sll the remote sensed dsta we were able to use tecently. However, my concern as a software developer is how are the developers paid? Not everyone is a 20 something with no outlays that can work in a trendy software collective as I envision it. I think it will change the software business. This is probably a good thing over all.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see that all this data and software is being put out there, but how is it all being funded. It still costs money to make data so how is the open source data making money? The free hardware and software is great for charities and businesses, but can this free data be as reliable as data that you pay for. As more Open source data becomes available it will be important to train more people on how to access it and use it correctly.
ReplyDelete