A brief (and most definitely incomplete) introduction to the world of open source GIS. Here I present some reasons open source options are useful and then give a brief introduction to the tools I use most: QGIS, PostGIS, and R. This talk was presented at the California Natural Resources Agency GIS Day on November 13, 2014.

2. What is
“Open Source”?

3. Open source software is software that can be
freely used
changed
and shared
(in modified or unmodified form)
by anyone.
Open source software is made by many people, and distributed
under licenses that comply with the Open Source Definition.
- Open Source Initiative

4. Why Use
Open Source?

5. 1. It's Free

6. Free software:
Not "free" as in "beer"
or "free" as in "freedom".
"Free" as in "puppy".
- Sarah Novotny, Community Manager for Nginx

7. Requires Upkeep
... but doesn't all
software?

8. 2. Frequent Updates

9. 3. Participate in
Development

10. 4. No “Black Box”
Analysis

11. 5. Multi-platform

12. Do I Have to Choose
a Side?

13. Don't Choose. Be Open.
More Tools = Quicker + Better Results

14. What Software is
Available?

15. OSGeoLive

16. live.osgeo.org
Try MANY software
options without
installation

18. QGIS

20. Editing Add Data
Map Navigation

21. PostGIS

23. R

26. Community

27. Open Source Geospatial
Foundation
Open Source Geospatial Software
Community OSGeo.org
+ California Chapter
FOSS4G
Open Source Geospatial Software
Conferences foss4g.org

28. Upcoming Conferences:
FOSS4G North America –
March 9-12, Burlingame, CA
FOSS4G – Sept. 14-19, Seoul,
Korea

29. Questions?
Contact Information:
Michele Tobias
mmtobias@ucdavis.edu
@MicheleTobias
impactstory.org/MicheleTobias