Qgis

Qgis - An example of good practices in the OpenSource model

Whenever we sit down before a company or institution that wants to implement a platform with a territorial management approach, accustomed to hearing many negative voices about the OpenSource models, this question comes up with slight variants.

Who answers for QGIS?

Qgis

It seems to us responsible and very normal, that a decision maker seeks to support an action that could be audited sooner or later -The good way or the bad way-.

What happens is that OpenSource Models are hard to justify, partly because in most cases, officials in administrative positions try to understand what info-technologists cannot even explain. But also because the practices of actors from the private sector try to cause confusion, showing that free software is not professional, that it does not have support or that it has an uncertain future.

Both blind optimism and malice are to consider, considering that many open source initiatives have fallen by the wayside. Also because a migration strategy to open source should not be sold as a total reduction in costs but as an opportunity to enhance knowledge, which requires a complement in training and systematic innovation that, to be honest, is even more difficult to sell ... and fulfill .

The case of Qgis is an interesting model, of which books may one day be written. It is not the first, nor the only one; Successful cases such as WordPress, PostGIS, Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap show similarities between altruism and the business opportunity taking advantage of collaboration after democratizing knowledge. And it is that deep down, it is not intended to restrict the opportunities of the private sector or take attitudes against the prestigious brands that have shaped the market; Rather, it is about not limiting the possibilities of innovation and development of the human being through technological tools, in a responsible manner.

But ultimately, the best practices that an OpenSource Project can apply must balance between functional design, architecture, corporate image, community management and, much more important, sustainability; A word that does not fit here with the same tone that we used in the Cooperation sector. I like the word better Collective profit.

Those who support Qgis

It is interesting that the version of Qgis that will be released in the month of March of 2016, has the following institutions:

Gold Sponsors: 

Asia Air Survey, JapanFrom 2012 this is the institution with the most contributions to the Qgis project; that in the case of the Far East is responsible for promoting the development of high quality technologies for the geospatial sector.

Qgis

Silver Sponsors:

These sponsors show us both the appropriation it has had in the European context, as well as the combination between the Public, Private and Academia sectors. See that they are not economically wealthy countries, but the level of technification of the processes in these dependencies that sponsor Qgis are to be respected, to the extent of being able to justify within their investments, the support for a platform that is of the entire world community.

It is also interesting to see that in these countries there is no extreme poverty and no need to lower software costs. So OpenSource is another trend for innovation and enhancement of collaborative knowledge.

Bronze Sponsors:

Europa

As can be seen in this list, we are talking about both solidly established companies and recent entrepreneurship. Here is our credit to MappingGIS, the first company in the Spanish-speaking context to sign up for this sponsorship.

It is important to understand that as long as there are private companies sponsoring free software, we will have serious companies providing support, we will not only have freelance developers stuck in garages, writing code and mixing beer with adrenaline. Rather, professionals hired by companies under specific projects, with goals, standards and quality guarantees.

Of course, adrenaline and the smell of garage rats are necessary, to give that flavor of innovation to large-scale projects, which we know from experience -almost- They must be born there.

America

Asia and Oceania

The last two listings show us that the field is still virgin in the search for sponsors. But if you have four German institutions, one French, three Italian and two English ... they sure don't go any further so as not to lose momentum. The Middle East and the United States remain to be exploited, where with tweezers it is feasible to find the will, as well as some Latin American countries where the gvSIG Project has shown that it is also possible.

The orchestrators of the process.

OpenSource software requires visionaries who are nailing the horizon, whether they are voluntary or paid. This, so that all efforts are coordinated and the burden does not fall on one or two people who are not multifaceted. For this, Qgis has a Project Steering Committee that is made up of the following members:

  • Gary Sherman (President)
  • Jürgen Fischer (Press Officer)
  • Anita Graser (Design and User Interface)
  • Richard Duivenvoorde (Infrastructure Manager)
  • Marco Hugentobler (Code Manager)
  • Tim Sutton (Testing and Quality Assurance)
  • Paolo Cavallini (Finance)
  • Otto Dassau (Documentation)

Interestingly, they are not strange names when we remember the hashtag #qgis on Twitter or experienced users in the support forums. This shows how committed they are to the project, facing the style of those in the Anglo-Saxon context: without pride of what they know, without trying to stand out, with business cards that do not even have the last name.

Qgis

Thanks to this team of orchestrators, they have achieved a surprising level of confidence interesting to systematize; After what I have talked to users who have voluntarily and professionally become involved in the user experience improvement and documentation teams. It is also important to contribute that this aggressiveness and organization of the Qgis project is recent; but boy have they managed to do so well. I tried by First time this tool in July 2009, just in the days of leisure because of the coup in Honduras. Today, I am struck by the opinion of loyal users, materialized in satisfaction with the current version and peace of mind that what you need is on the wish list that will soon be pleased.

 

The Community of Users

Undoubtedly the life of a free software is in the community. There are the obsessive users who download the daily build, just to prove how new it is, the fearful ones who hope it will be officially tested, the crazy collaborators who give away their code in exchange for a joint of marijuana, those who give free counseling and even us writers who learned to do systemic research in times when we don't have the whip in hand. Interesting as we have never seen it before, with all the communication possibilities that this world offers us today.

I like the following image, because it is the first cadastral certificate that I saw a municipal technician make. Perfect as it should be. Only with Qgis. Without us training him.

Qgis

 

Sure the good practices of the Qgis Project in terms of sustainable sponsorship, strategic alliances, aggressive time path, growing community and corporate presence could be useful for other efforts within the Crowdfunding environment. 

Golgi Alvarez

Writer, researcher, specialist in Land Management Models. He has participated in the conceptualization and implementation of models such as: National Property Administration System SINAP in Honduras, Management Model of Joint Municipalities in Honduras, Integrated Cadastre-Registry Management Model in Nicaragua, Territory Administration System SAT in Colombia . Editor of the Geofumadas knowledge blog since 2007 and creator of the AulaGEO Academy that includes more than 100 courses on GIS - CAD - BIM - Digital Twins topics.

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