Slashgeo

I've been waiting for the official announcement, but since main ports have been compiled, there you go: the multiplatform open source desktop GIS Quantum GIS 0.8 has been released! From the what's new: "* WMS support * Improved vector and attribute editing * Improved measure tools with area measuring * Attribute searching * New legend structure * Refactoring of API to allow the use of QGIS libraries in mapping applications * Improved MapServer export tool * Vector layer transparency and antialiasing * GRASS support in all platforms * Enhanced GRASS support and toolbox commands * Enhanced vector editing, including copy, cut, paste, snapping and vertex editing * Shapefile/OGR layer editing"

Previously discussed, the CGAUK blog provide information on GIS software on portable USB keys. From the entry: "I’m probably the last person to realise it’s possible to do this, but I was really pleased to see that both GRASS and PostgreSQL can now be run from a USB stick, along with QGIS, XAMPP (inc Mapserver, OpenLayers, Tilecache), and FWTools. Before I go any further, I should state that my aims for creating a portable GIS are not so much having a production GIS setup on a stick, because obviously performance and storage are an issue, but it might be useful for demonstration purposes, and I do feel as if the take up of these opensource tools might be more if they were easier to install and came in one handy package."

GEOconnexions runs a generic column about open source geospatial software, clearly presenting the context [pdf, 224k], written by Michael P. Gerlek of the OSGeo. From the column: "Second question: what do these all have in common? MapServer, MapGuide, PostGIS, GDAL, GRASS, OpenLayers, and QGIS. [...] This column is the first of a monthly series about the power of those packages, their developers, and their users. [...] The stability of the product is often much higher, making it a firmer foundation on which to build your own applications or perform your own data analysis. The release cycle is often much faster, meaning important bug fixes or new features appear more frequently. And while there certainly are many open source projects aimed at “cloning” popular closed source products, a number of open source products use technologies and approaches that are completely new and innovative, well ahead of their closed source cousins."

Over the Quantum GIS blog, the easy-to-use open source desktop GIS in active development, we learn about Quantum Navigator, a new open source routing / navigation system in the works. From the announcement: "The aim of the project is to enable basic routing and navigation capabilities on a roadmap. Given a shapefile of roadmap with correct format, you'll be able to select start and end point of your route. The application will calculate you a route that will meet your needs (shortest, fastest or economic path). This route should follow all restrictions like one-way streets or turning restrictions from one road to another one." I wonder if they're aware of the open source GMap, Roadster, and RoadNav efforts? Related to QGIS, there's a QGIS MapServer project in development, described as: "QGIS mapserver is a server module for geographic maps. The content of vector and raster datasources (e.g. shapefiles, gml, postgis, wfs, geotiff ) is visualized according to the request parameters. The generated map image is sent back to the client over the internet.".

timlinux writes "It is our great pleasure to announce the immediate availability of Quantum GIS (QGIS) Version 0.9.0. Quantum GIS is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) that runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows. QGIS supports vector, raster, and database formats. QGIS is licensed under the GNU General Public License. QGIS lets you browse and create map data on your computer. It supports many common spatial data formats (e.g. ESRI ShapeFile, geotiff). QGIS supports plugins to do things like display tracks from your GPS. QGIS is Open Source software and its free of cost (download here). We welcome contributions from our user community in the form of code contributions, bug fixes, bug reports, contributed documentation, advocacy and supporting other users on our mailing lists and forums. Financial contributions are also welcome. This release introduces several new features including python bindings and many additional GRASS modules. The release also includes bug fixes and stability improvements. QGIS is available is source form, and as binary executables for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux. All versions can be obtained from our download page. As an open source project, we provide support for using QGIS via our mailing lists and bug tracker:

• For general enquiries subscribe to our users mailing list.
• For developer related enquiries subscribe to our separate developers list.
• If you think you have found a bug, please report it using our bug tracker. When reporting bugs, please include some contact information in case we need help with replicating your issue.

" This is really great news. Here's a few links from the official Quantum GIS blog that I kept waiting for this day: a link to the workbook named "Shuffling Quantum GIS into the Open Source Software Stack", the slides from the FOSS4G 2007 presentation named "Quantum GIS - Five Years and Counting" and here's a screencast for loading data into GRASS with QGIS. See also related stories below.