Free GIS

Hello Mappers for Change,

                One question that we are often asked at Maps for Change is about access to GIS software.  Most of you have learned on the ArcGIS suite, and while that is hands down the best GIS software most people don’t have the funds to pay for the program.  The purpose of this post is to share information about free GIS programs.  If you have a program which you love, please comment on it in the comments section.

1.       Arc GIS-  okay, while not free, ESRI is now offering the suite for $100 for non-com commercial use.  Making it great for volunteering. While there is a great free version for non-profits, MfC does not qualify, because we are not a 501 (c) 3 organization.  Visit http://www.esri.com/arcgis-for-home/index.html

2.       Quantum GIS—This is a great program which is open source and has great basic features and it works with grass.  http://qgis.org/

3.       gvSIG: Which was developed in by group of programmers in Spain. It is mainly developed for desktop users and it has mobile version too. It has most of GeoInformation analysis functions that are used in ArcGIS. Moreover it is open source, so it can be modified too according to your preferences. It has been developed in Java programming language. It is available in different languages (English, Spanish, Catalan, German, French, Portuguese, etc). The web site is http://www.gvsig.org/web/.

4.       Post- GIS: It is based on querying in SQL (similar to MySQL, PostgreSQL) It is mainly for handling and analyzing spatial data in strings. It is very good in analyzing geo-statistics. Moreover it can be linked to gvSIG and perform geo-analysis. It is light application and easy to use for those who has experience with SQL. It is also open source. http://postgis.refractions.net/