# FOSSGIS projects

**Task:** We will collect information on four very popular FOSSGIS projects. To work on the same document, we will work with a shared online editor: [hackmd: Shared markdown editor](https://hackmd.io/@chludwig/S1IqMJ_tw)

This is an overview of **four FOSSGIS projects**.

**Group task:** Form **4 groups.** Find information about your group's FOSSGIS project and collect it below. You may start your search at the [OSGeo Live Website](https://live.osgeo.org/en/overview/overview.html).

**Note:** Please format links to the webpage, documentation, etc. using the Markdown format, e.g. [github.com](https://github.com/)
→ Refer to this [GitHub Markdown guide](https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/) or [Markdown Guide](https://www.markdownguide.org/) to learn more about it.

## Overview

Fill in this table for your project

|Project | Year started | # Contributors | # Open Issues/Tickets | Date of last contribution in code | License* |
|---------|--------------|----------------|-----------------------|-----------------------------------|----------|
|QGIS | 2002 | 541 | 4649 | 28.10.2024 | GNU General Public License v2.0 |
|GRASS GIS| 1983 | 118 | 441 | 23.10.2024 | |
|SAGA GIS | 2001 | 9 | 3 | 23.10.2024 | LGPL v2.1 (api); GPLv2 (GUI and modules) |
|gdal | 2000 | 528 | 482 |22.10.2024| MIT style License |

### 2. Collect information on your project

Collect some information on the resepective project section below by answering the following questions

### QGIS

Homepage: https://www.qgis.org/
Link to documentation: https://www.qgis.org/resources/hub/
Link to source code: https://github.com/qgis/QGIS
Where can you report bugs?:https://github.com/qgis/qgis/issues
How can you run the software?: can be used with a graphical user interface,the command line or with python, plugins are available

#### About the project

* What does the name stand for?
* QGIS previously stood for "Quantum GIS" until 2013, when it was permanently changed to "QGIS."
* Who started it and what was their background?
* Gary Sherman initiated the project. According to his LinkedIn, Sherman worked as a technical analyst at ESRI until 2001 and then with the US Bureau of Land Management until 2011, after which he founded his own GIS consulting firm, GeoApt LLC.
* What was the initial intention and purpose of the software?
* According to the documentation "The initial goal of the project was to provide a GIS data viewer." The purpose of the software is "to be a user-friendly GIS, providing common functions and features" for users on all computers.

#### Contribution and usage guidelines

* How can you contribute to the project?
* Take a look at the project's licence. Under which conditions are you allowed to redistribute an adapted version of the software? (Refer to [https://choosealicense.com/](https://choosealicense.com/) to learn about licenses)

### GRASS GIS

Homepage: https://grass.osgeo.org/
Link to documentation: https://grasswiki.osgeo.org/wiki/GRASS_Documents
Link to source code: https://github.com/OSGeo/grass
Where can you report bugs?:https://github.com/OSGeo/grass/issues
How can you run the software?: has a gui, command line works with python, plugins can be made and/or downloaded

#### About the project

* What does the name stand for? Geographic Resources Analysis Support System
* Who started it and what was their background?
* What was the initial intention and purpose of the software?

#### Contribution and usage guidelines

* How can you contribute to the project?
* Take a look at the project's licence. Under which conditions are you allowed to redistribute an adapted version of the software? (Refer to [https://choosealicense.com/](https://choosealicense.com/) to learn about licenses)

### SAGA GIS

Homepage: (https://saga-gis.sourceforge.io/en/)
Link to documentation: (https://saga-gis.sourceforge.io/saga_tool_doc/index.html)
Link to source code: (https://github.com/saga-gis)
Where can you report bugs?: (https://sourceforge.net/p/saga-gis/bugs)
How can you run the software?: Can be used in agraphical user interface, commands can be executed via command line, plugins can be added to enhance the experience.

#### About the project

* What does the name stand for?
* System für Automatisierte Geowissenschaftliche Analysen
* Who started it and what was their background?
* Was initiated by a small team of researchers from the Dept. of Physical Geography, Göttingen
* What was the initial intention and purpose of the software?
* Originally designed for an easy and effective implementation of spatial algorithms. The focus of the program is on physical-geographical calculations and forms of representation, which are mostly carried out on the basis of raster data.

#### Contribution and usage guidelines

* How can you contribute to the project?
* Direct contributions can be done through SAGA's project homepage at SourceForge, where you can participate in forum discussions or improve the WiKi. Become a funding member
of the SAGA User Group Association, which represents the interests of the world wide SAGA user communit
* Take a look at the project's licence. Under which conditions are you allowed to redistribute an adapted version of the software? (Refer to [https://choosealicense.com/](https://choosealicense.com/) to learn about licenses)
* Licensed under the GNU General Public License 3. The GPL requires derived works to be available under the same or a comparable licence, with other words derived works have to become Open Source as well.

### GDAL

Homepage:
Link to documentation: https://gdal.org/en/latest/
Link to source code:https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal
Where can you report bugs?:https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/issues
How can you run the software?: graphical user interface, command line, plugins, python, etc. => OSGeo4Shell, plugin for QGIS --> GUI, command line

#### About the project

* What does the name stand for?
* Geospatial Data Abstraction Library
* Who started it and what was their background?
* The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (non-profit organization, objective is to support global adoption of open geospatial technology, to offer software, community driven development)
* What was the initial intention and purpose of the software?
* is meant as a translator library for raster and vector geospatial data formats, also offers command line utilities for data translation and processing

#### Contribution and usage guidelines

* How can you contribute to the project?
* contribute code
* filing high-quality bug reports
* improve documentation
* financial sponsorship
* see: https://gdal.org/en/latest/contributing/
* Take a look at the project's licence. Under which conditions are you allowed to redistribute an adapted version of the software? (Refer to [https://choosealicense.com/](https://choosealicense.com/) to learn about licenses)