Coming of Age: The positive legacy of FOSS GIS
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The document discusses the legacy of open source GIS software GRASS GIS, which has been in development for over 20 years. It describes [1] how GRASS started as a project of the US Army but is now maintained by an international community, [2] how integrated development environments can help attract new developers by improving on GRASS's traditionally command-line-based tools, and [3] argues that embracing newer technologies while maintaining existing code can help extend and renew an open source community over time.
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Coming of Age: The positive legacy of FOSS GIS
- 1. Coming of Age: The Positive Legacy of FOSS GIS Peter Löwe, GeoForschungsZentrum-Potsdam ploewe@gfz-potsdam.de
- 2. Introduction • Legacy is in the eye of the beholder • A real legacy project: GRASS GIS • Code Evolution and Legacy • Legacy Code and Legacy Tools • Arguing for Integrated Development Tools • Conclusion
- 3. The meaning of Legacy [Wikipedia] • „Legacy code is source code that relates to a no- longer supported or manufactured operating system or other computer technology“ „Forgotte n Lore CP/M, Be “: OS etc. • “Old application programs are considered “legacy” which continue to be used because the user does not want to replace or redesign them.” „Never ch work ange ing code“ we don‘t – why it works… • “Legacy software often differs from its suggested alternative by actually working and scaling, making the term not pejorative at all.” „It does th e job“
- 4. FOSS GIS Legacy Several FOSS GIS projects have been in existence for a very long time, giving them “legacy”: – UMN Mapserver – GRASS GIS, – both are community-controlled projects. GRASS User Map
- 5. The „Code Legacy“ of GRASS: Alive and Kicking • The GRASS GIS project has been Lines of Code evolving for more than twenty years. • Development was started by the US Army (CERL). It was halted in the early 1990s: The sources were handed over to academia. • Development was rekindled in the mid-1990s by researchers and students. • The licensing under the General 2000 2008 Public Licence (GPL) in 1999 resulted in a dramatic increase of development. • GRASS GIS is now maintained by an international developer community. • In 2008 it became a OSGEO project.
- 6. „Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants“ [nanos gigantum humeris insidentes] Lines of Code • Analogy for Free We are here now Open Source Code Development. „Other • „Current code is Dwarfs“ based on previous (previous work & work“ legacy) • „dwarfs standing on lots of other dwarfs“ The metaphor was first recorded in the twelfth century and attributed to Bernard of Chartres, [Wikipedia] (Later: Sir I.Newton, R. Stallman)
- 7. „Life is a Beach, Coding is a Reef“ Actively growing reef margin: The Slow growing leeward cutting edge of development margin: Code maintenance Small patch reefs: Scripts, etc Reef-front talus, broken by storm waves: Abandoned Re code ef Reef Limestone … The „L code base eg ac y“ Source; Siever,Press: Earth, 1995
- 8. Stage 1: Technology breakthrough • „The volcano erupts !“ Side-View • Computation power becomes affordable • US Army invests in the development • First developer Top-View community
- 9. Stage 2: Community growth • CERL stops active Side-View development • Code released as public domain • Universities take over (Waco, Hannover) • New developer community forms. Top-View
- 10. Stage 3: Towards a Licence • Developer Side-View community updates and replaces CERL code base. • 1999: General Public Licence (GPL) Top-View
- 11. Stage 4: Now Side-View • 1999 - 2008 • GRASS is certified as FOSS by OSGEO • Full acknowledged project beyond the incubation phase Top-View
- 12. Reef Fauna Quantum GIS is a FOSS GIS based on Python and QT. It provides GRASS functionality via a plug-in. JGRASS complements the uDig Project (java-based, vector-centric) with raster-processing capabilities based on GRASS GIS.
- 13. Possible Fate: Decline If the reef organisms (developers) can‘t keep up with the rising water level (user demands, state of the art), the reef will submerge and the project will fossilize. El Capitain (Permian Reef), Texas Source: Wikipedia Top-View Side-View
- 14. Another option: Diversification „The reef starts to extend outside its primary niche.“ In 2007 a native GRASS version for WindowsXP became late alpha. Challenge: will the corals thrive in the new environment…? Linux, C XP ? Java ?
- 15. Coding / Recoding • Serial Code Development: A small group of constant contributors volunteerly adds new features and updates old ones (300 modules + 80+ add-on scripts). • The majority of the developer community is highly fluent in the code structure and uses text based tools for development such as vi or Emacs. For newcomers, this situation results in a steep learning curve. Besides, the constant overall development of libraries forces contributors of add-on C-modules to adapt their code. Linux, C Reef-front talus, XP ? broken by storm Java ? waves: Abandoned code
- 16. Legacy code vs. legacy build-tools (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/aix/library/au-unix-eclipse/ Visited June 9th 2008) • Until now, GRASS development tools were command-line based (vi, make). • Integrated Development Environments (IDE) gives the advantages of a graphical interface, editors that support syntax highlighting, code completion, and a common platform for development. • Using the Ant build system to adapt an existing makefile or configure script to life in an IDE.
- 17. Arguing the case for extended DIE usage • During the last years Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) became widely available for code development. • Many younger programmers consider the availability of IDEs as given. Therefore it makes sense to foster the know-how regarding GRASS- development with IDEs, such as Eclipse/CDT • The decision of the GRASS GIS community to stick to C-code in the spirit of positive-legacy allowed for successful deployment of a native version for Microsoft Windows. • Since IDEs such as Eclipse are platform independent, this also allows for active code development on non-Linux systems, such as Microsoft Windows™. • In regard to the “dark side of legacy” such as retiring of the current pre-IDE developers and the resulting loss in know how and skill, it is even more important to enable IDE-based development to help document the code & build-process while there is time.
- 18. IDE-Examples
- 19. Conclusion: Taking pride in legacy • Linux, Code Legacy is a valuable asset for community-driven software C development with limited resources. • While ensuring code functionality by the careful maintenance of existing XP code, the approach eventually incorporates “cutting edge“ technologies once they themselves have stood the test of time (like IDE). Java • The usage of IDEs is expected to extend and rejunevate the developer community by offering alternatives to “tricky” build processes. • It will speed up the development process and enables the active development on non-linux stystems. • The positive, stabilizing effects of trusted legacy software which “just works well” and can be continued to be developed on various platforms.
- 20. Have a nice day