Return to BSD News archive
Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.mel.connect.com.au!news.mira.net.au!news.vbc.net!alpha.sky.net!news.sprintlink.net!news-stk-200.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!news-stk-11.sprintlink.net!nntp04.primenet.com!news.shkoo.com!nntp.primenet.com!news.texas.net!news.kei.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!uwm.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!jussieu.fr!univ-lyon1.fr!in2p3.fr!swidir.switch.ch!swsbe6.switch.ch!scsing.switch.ch!rzunews.unizh.ch!bise!fbrazile From: Frank Brazile <fbrazile@geo.unizh.ch> Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: GIS Systems Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1996 13:44:50 +0200 Organization: University of Zurich, Switzerland Lines: 54 Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.94.960807132956.10696A-100000@bise> References: <1996Aug2.055058.12454@forthdv.pfm-mainz.de> <3205F321.2781E494@aristar.com> <1996Aug5.205336.2861@forthdv.pfm-mainz.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: bise.geo.unizh.ch Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-Sender: fbrazile@bise In-Reply-To: <1996Aug5.205336.2861@forthdv.pfm-mainz.de> On Mon, 5 Aug 1996, Stephan Forth wrote: Greetings, > : > a customer asked me: Are there any GIS Systemes > : > (Geographical Information Systems) available for FreeBSD. > : > AFAIK there is GRASS available for SUNs and Linux. GRASS is a raster-based geographical information system (GIS), not to be confused wiht AT&T's GIS product which doesn't have anything to do with this kind of GIS. I once compiled GRASS for FreeBSD 2.0 and it was fairly straightforward. I had to make a few source code changes due to SVRsomething specific code, I can't remember now. The c source code is k&r style and is kinda old-school in general. Also, you need motif to make XGrass, which I never had available. It would be a very good idea to make a GRASS FreeBSD package. I do not know of any vector-based public domain GISs that are ready to run on BSD. Check comp.infosystems.gis for the FAQ on gis. Vector-based GIS is a complicated beast, kinda like any large DBMS. Maybe someday we'll see something available. > : Have you checked with ESRI to see if they make an ARC/Info version for > : FreeBSD? > > No, I haven't. Do you have an URL or e-mail adress?? I'm no ESRI spokesperson, but don't waste your time. I seem to recall ESRI announcing that they would never support Arc/INFO on any public domain Unix such as Linux or BSD because they feared the license manager mechanism could be too easily compromised. Whatever. I also hear ESRI also recently announced they would stop supporting Unix-based Arc/INFO in a few years after Windows NT really took off. Whatever. Also, :), ESRI recently convinced the US Army CERL, the original developers of GRASS, that ESRI could provide all of the CERL's GIS needs. There will be no more GRASS development at CERL. Sigh. Where's our GPL or BSD licensed public domain vector GIS when you need it? > Thanks, Stephan > > -- > FORTH EDV Beratung + Schulung stephan@forthdv.pfm-mainz.de > Martin-Luther-Str. 55 voice: +49 6131 581072 > 55131 Mainz, Germany fax: +49 6131 581073 -F. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Frank Brazile | Internet: fbrazile@geo.unizh.ch Assistant NF | Universitat Zurich Generalization Gruppe | Winterthurerstr. 190 nummer: (01) 257 5256 | 8057 Zuerich, CH