Sunday, January 27 2008 @ 10:36 PM EST Contributed by: sde
This article provides an overview of Linux-based tools for Geographic Information Systems (GIS), including a quick take on the ESRI's ArcReader. Future articles will explore this and other individual tools in greater depth.
The Story of a Map Lover, GIS User
I have always been a map fanatic. As a kid, before my family hit the road for our summer vacations, my father would always visit AAA and get a "TripTik" for the route. A TripTik is a spiral-bound booklet of maps that lead you one-by-one to your destination. Each sheet has a roadmap on top, which folds out to reveal a wealth of local information, such as the highest mountain peaks in the area, the populations and descriptions of the cities and towns and the sights worth a detour. During our trips I would study each page, curious about the unique aspects of each place and landscape, wondering secretly "what's at the end of that unpaved road that leads off the page?" Such was the beginning of my cartographic addiction, and I am still hooked. To this day, my wife knows that the gift of an atlas or other cartographic doodad will set my face aglow.
