søndag den 14. december 2008

The ESRI Dilemma


ESRI er den største men langt fra den bedste. Konkurrencen er hård(fin) og alternativerne mange. Jeg har hadet at elske ESRI igennem årene og det vil formentlig ikke ændre sig fremover. Jeg har det iøvrigt på samme måde med Microsoft og Google så det er måske mig der er noget galt med ...
/Sik


ESRI it the largest but far the best. The competition these years have toughen and the alternatives have become more and better. I have personally hated to love ESRI over the years and that probably won't change in the future - but hey I feel the same way about Microsoft ang Google ... It might just be me ...
/Sik


Quote

  • Budgets are now tight and ESRI (software, training, conference) is expensive.
  • Geospatial applications and concepts are everywhere, thanks to Google, Microsoft, e911, Homeland Security, environmental concerns, GPS, and in-car navigation.
  • I can’t stand ArcGIS Server. Most of what we do is simply serving of maps, raster and vector. ArcIMS was OK for this but ArcGIS Server is bloated, slow, and complicated (not to mention expensive.)
  • To me, not much has been chaning with ESRI for many years.
  • ESRI is still used most often with many of our colleagues, people who do not have the flexibility to change.
  • What will happen to ESRI when Jack retires? What will happen if it goes public?
  • In my mind, analysis has always been the re-headed step child in ArcGIS. Yes, it’s there, but it’s limited and slow. ArcObjects is a bear to learn, which you’ll need to use if you want to do complex analysis.
  • Maturity and stability of open source map servers.
  • Same goes for javascript APIs, like OpenLayers, GeoMosse, ka-Map, MapFish, MapBuilder, MapGuide, and many others.
  • Analysis using a variety of open source programs like GDAL, GRASS, Python, R, SAGA, QGIS, etc…, is getting easier to use. It’s also more reliable than Arc*, much faster, and more flexible. You need to write code vs point-and-click interfaces, but the programs are getting smaller and easier to understand.
  • Postgres and PostGIS works wonderfully and can be used with many different packages. And spatial SQL queries can be used for analysis on its own.
  • Open source desktop GUIs are looking good. QGIS, MapWindow, uDIG, gvSIG, OSSIM, SAGA are pretty good now and getting better. Not quite as nice as ArcMap though.
  • Use of some related software, like Postgres and PHP, and operating systems (Mac and Linux are growing) is increasing in other, non-GIS areas.
  • Open source licensing is pretty good!

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