Open Source GIS History - Revision history

Neteler: added MOSS Zenodo, GitHub, Website; http -> https

2026-08-23T12:48:28Z

added MOSS Zenodo, GitHub, Website; http -> https

Neteler: /* See also */ Evolution of the GRASS GUI

2026-01-21T15:22:39Z

Neteler: update historylong OGC URL

2024-12-15T23:29:47Z

update historylong OGC URL

Jmckenna: update PROJ link & name

2021-04-11T16:28:39Z

update PROJ link & name

Jmckenna: /* See also */ use HTTPS for MapServer trac link

2021-04-11T16:25:18Z

See also: use HTTPS for MapServer trac link

Jmckenna: use correct MapServer link & name

2021-04-11T16:24:03Z

use correct MapServer link & name

Jmckenna: update website link for MapServer

2021-04-11T16:22:18Z

update website link for MapServer

Jmckenna: correct MapServer project source date. (background: https://trac.osgeo.org/mapserver/wiki/MapServerHistory )

2021-04-11T16:21:00Z

correct MapServer project source date. (background: https://trac.osgeo.org/mapserver/wiki/MapServerHistory )

Wiki-Peter.loewe: Update on MOSS codebase being available again.

2020-10-09T13:59:49Z

Update on MOSS codebase being available again.

Wiki-Peter.loewe: /* Timeline */

2019-06-11T09:19:43Z

Timeline

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 === Timeline ===
-'''1978''' - Map Overlay and Statistical System (MOSS). A pioneer vector-based geographic information system (GIS) developed by the U.S. Department of Interior. MOSS used to be available to download (ftp://ftp.blm.gov/pub/gis/) until 2018 ([[MOSS|OSGeo MOSS codebase recovery effort]]).  Dr. Carl Reed has written an article about [http://www.scribd.com/doc/4606038/2004-Article-by-Carl-Reed-MOSS-A-Historical-perspective MOSS history]. In September 2020, the OSGeo Board agreed to grant the MOSS project the status of a OSGeo Heritage Project. The source code is currently (2020) available [https://oc.diw.de/index.php/s/cPU3etTB3WjeyJf here] and will be long time preserved by OSGeo in the near future.
+'''1978''' - Map Overlay and Statistical System (MOSS). A pioneer vector-based geographic information system (GIS) developed by the U.S. Department of Interior. MOSS used to be available to download (ftp://ftp.blm.gov/pub/gis/) until 2018 ([[MOSS|OSGeo MOSS codebase recovery effort]]).  Dr. Carl Reed has written an article about [https://www.scribd.com/doc/4606038/2004-Article-by-Carl-Reed-MOSS-A-Historical-perspective MOSS history]. In September 2020, the OSGeo Board agreed to grant the MOSS project the status of a OSGeo Heritage Project. The source code is currently (2020) available [https://oc.diw.de/index.php/s/cPU3etTB3WjeyJf here] and will be long time preserved by OSGeo for the future: [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5140318 DOI], [https://github.com/OSGeo/MOSS GitHub], [https://mossgis.org/ website].
-'''since 1982-today''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/grass GRASS GIS] (Geographical Resources Analysis Support System) is the earliest Open Source GIS which reached production status and supported both raster and vector data. It was originally developed from 1982 to 1995 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, since then by the international GRASS Development Team. Initially published as public domain software, its license was changed to GNU GPL (General Public License, see www.gnu.org) in 1999. Dr. Jim Westerwelt has written an article about the [http://grass.osgeo.org/uploads/grass/history_docs/westervelt2004_GRASS_roots.pdf initial GRASS development history].
+'''since 1982-today''' - [https://www.osgeo.org/grass GRASS GIS] (Geographical Resources Analysis Support System) is the earliest Open Source GIS which reached production status and supported both raster and vector data. It was originally developed from 1982 to 1995 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, since then by the international GRASS Development Team. Initially published as public domain software, its license was changed to GNU GPL (General Public License, see www.gnu.org) in 1999. Dr. Jim Westerwelt has written an article about the [https://grass.osgeo.org/uploads/grass/history_docs/westervelt2004_GRASS_roots.pdf initial GRASS development history] (see also [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRASS_GIS Wikipedia])
 '''1983''' - [https://proj.org/ PROJ library] development started. The original PROJ was developed in the early 1980's as a ratfor (a fortran preprocessor)
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 '''1994''' - [https://mapserver.org MapServer] project started. In '''2002''' MapServer gets Python support.
-'''1995''' - [http://rasdaman.eecs.jacobs-university.de/trac/rasdaman rasdaman] raster data manager project started. In '''2009''' rasdaman was open sourced.
+'''1995''' - [https://rasdaman.eecs.jacobs-university.de/trac/rasdaman rasdaman] raster data manager project started. In '''2009''' rasdaman was open sourced.
-'''1996''' - [http://geotools.org/ GeoTools] project started at the University of Leads. Superseded by GeoTools Lite (for applets) and in '''2002''' GeoTools 2 (using standards). The GeoTools 2 project was renamed to [http://geotoolsnews.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/geotools-8.html  GeoTools] in '''2011'''.  OSGEO Incubation: '''2006 - [http://www.osgeo.org/node/747 2008]'''
+'''1996''' - [https://geotools.org/ GeoTools] project started at the University of Leads. Superseded by GeoTools Lite (for applets) and in '''2002''' GeoTools 2 (using standards). The GeoTools 2 project was renamed to [https://geotoolsnews.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/geotools-8.html  GeoTools] in '''2011'''.  OSGEO Incubation: '''2006 - [https://www.osgeo.org/node/747 2008]'''
-'''1998''' - [http://deegree.org/ deegree] development started with an OGC Simple Features implementation. The project was renamed from JaGo to deegree in '''2002'''.
+'''1998''' - [https://deegree.org/ deegree] development started with an OGC Simple Features implementation. The project was renamed from JaGo to deegree in '''2002'''.
-'''1998''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/gdal_ogr GDAL/OGR] development started. Python support was added in '''2000'''.
+'''1998''' - [https://www.osgeo.org/gdal_ogr GDAL/OGR] development started. Python support was added in '''2000'''.
-'''1999''' - [http://grass.osgeo.org GRASS GIS] source code moved from manual management into CVS
+'''1999''' - [https://grass.osgeo.org GRASS GIS] source code moved from manual management into CVS
-'''2000''' - Atlantis Scientific launched [http://openev.sourceforge.net/ OpenEV] project
+'''2000''' - Atlantis Scientific launched [https://openev.sourceforge.net/ OpenEV] project
-'''2000''' - [http://sourceforge.net/projects/jts-topo-suite/ JTS Topology Suite] project was initiated in Fall 2000. JTS 1.0 was released in February '''2002''' and version 1.1 in March '''2002'''.
+'''2000''' - [https://sourceforge.net/projects/jts-topo-suite/ JTS Topology Suite] project was initiated in Fall 2000. JTS 1.0 was released in February '''2002''' and version 1.1 in March '''2002'''.
-'''2001''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/ossim OSSIM] initial revision in CVS
+'''2001''' - [https://www.osgeo.org/ossim OSSIM] initial revision in CVS
-'''2001''' - [http://www.postgis.org PostGIS] started. OSGeo Incubation: '''2009-2012'''
+'''2001''' - [https://www.postgis.org PostGIS] started. OSGeo Incubation: '''2009-2012'''
-'''2001''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/geonetwork GeoNetwork opensource] started as GeoNetwork, later renamed to GeoNetwork opensource.
+'''2001''' - [https://www.osgeo.org/geonetwork GeoNetwork opensource] started as GeoNetwork, later renamed to GeoNetwork opensource.
-'''2001''' - [http://geoserver.org/ GeoServer] started in 2001 by "The Open Planning Project". OSGeo incubation: '''2009-present'''
+'''2001''' - [https://geoserver.org/ GeoServer] started in 2001 by "The Open Planning Project". OSGeo incubation: '''2009-present'''
-'''2002''' - Intevation,Gmbh starts [http://thuban.intevation.org Thuban] projects
+'''2002''' - Intevation,Gmbh starts [https://thuban.intevation.org Thuban] projects
-'''2002''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/qgis Quantum GIS] initial revision in CVS
+'''2002''' - [https://www.osgeo.org/qgis Quantum GIS] initial revision in CVS
-'''2002''' - [http://geos.refractions.net/ GEOS] initial revision in CVS
+'''2002''' - [https://geos.refractions.net/ GEOS] initial revision in CVS
-'''2002''' - [http://avpython.sourceforge.net/ AVPython] for ArcView 3.x published as FOSS
+'''2002''' - [https://avpython.sourceforge.net/ AVPython] for ArcView 3.x published as FOSS
-'''2003''' - [http://communitymapbuilder.org Community MapBuilder] started . The end of life of MapBuilder project was officially [http://communitymapbuilder.org/display/MAP/EndOfLife announced] on '''28 July 2008'''. [http://communitymapbuilder.org/display/MAP/Strategic+Direction#StrategicDirection-KeyMilestones ref]
+'''2003''' - [https://communitymapbuilder.org Community MapBuilder] started . The end of life of MapBuilder project was officially [https://communitymapbuilder.org/display/MAP/EndOfLife announced] on '''28 July 2008'''. [https://communitymapbuilder.org/display/MAP/Strategic+Direction#StrategicDirection-KeyMilestones ref]
-'''2003''' - Release of [http://www.osgeo.org/mapbender Mapbender] under the GNU GPL license
+'''2003''' - Release of [https://www.osgeo.org/mapbender Mapbender] under the GNU GPL license
-'''2003''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/gvSIG gvSIG] was started
+'''2003''' - [https://www.osgeo.org/gvSIG gvSIG] was started
-'''2004''' - [http://udig.refractions.net uDig] was started by Refractions Research.
+'''2004''' - [https://udig.refractions.net uDig] was started by Refractions Research.
-'''2005''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/mapguide MapGuide Open Source]
+'''2005''' - [https://www.osgeo.org/mapguide MapGuide Open Source]
-'''2005''' - [http://www.geomoose.org GeoMoose] project was started. In '''2006''' GeoMoose was open sourced. OSGeo incubation: '''2007-2013'''
+'''2005''' - [https://www.geomoose.org GeoMoose] project was started. In '''2006''' GeoMoose was open sourced. OSGeo incubation: '''2007-2013'''
-'''2006''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/mapbender Mapbender] gets first bits in CVS
+'''2006''' - [https://www.osgeo.org/mapbender Mapbender] gets first bits in CVS
-'''2006''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/openlayers OpenLayers] started
+'''2006''' - [https://www.osgeo.org/openlayers OpenLayers] started
-'''2007''' - [http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/ILWIS ILWIS] became open source
+'''2007''' - [https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/ILWIS ILWIS] became open source
-'''2008''' - [http://grass.osgeo.org GRASS GIS] runs natively also on MS-Windows
+'''2008''' - [https://grass.osgeo.org GRASS GIS] runs natively also on MS-Windows
-'''2008''' - [http://live.osgeo.org OSGeo-Live] starts, with 100 CDs handed out at FOSS4G 2008, then DVDs handed out to all FOSS4G 2009 delegates.
+'''2008''' - [https://live.osgeo.org OSGeo-Live] starts, with 100 CDs handed out at FOSS4G 2008, then DVDs handed out to all FOSS4G 2009 delegates.
-'''2009''' - [http://trac.osgeo.org/ggl/ Boost.Geometry] accepted into [http://www.boost.org Boost C++ Libraries]
+'''2009''' - [https://trac.osgeo.org/ggl/ Boost.Geometry] accepted into [https://www.boost.org Boost C++ Libraries]
 == Organizations ==

@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 * [[History|OSGeo Foundation History]]
 * Software projects:
-** GRASS GIS History: http://grass.osgeo.org/home/history/
+** GRASS GIS History: https://grass.osgeo.org/home/history/ | [https://github.com/OSGeo/grass-promo/blob/main/grass-evolution/gui/README.md Evolution of the GRASS GUI]
 ** PostGIS History: http://www.refractions.net/products/postgis/history/
 ** JTS / GEOS History: http://lin-ear-th-inking.blogspot.com/2007/06/history-of-jts-and-geos.html

@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 == Organizations ==
-'''1992:''' "Open GRASS Foundation" (OGF, see [http://tldp.org/HOWTO/GIS-GRASS/history.html here] and [http://grass.osgeo.org/gdp/grassclippings/grassclippings93_7_2_gardels_ogc.pdf here])
+'''1992:''' "Open GRASS Foundation" (OGF, see [https://tldp.org/HOWTO/GIS-GRASS/history.html here] and [https://grass.osgeo.org/gdp/grassclippings/grassclippings93_7_2_gardels_ogc.pdf here])
-'''1994:''' OGF was re-structured as the Open Geospatial Consortium ([http://www.opengeospatial.org/ogc/historylong OGC])
+'''1994:''' OGF was re-structured as the Open Geospatial Consortium ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220511133736/https://www.ogc.org/ogc/historylong OGC])
-'''2006:''' Open Source Geospatial Foundation (http://www.osgeo.org) established whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies, data and educational material.
+'''2006:''' Open Source Geospatial Foundation (https://www.osgeo.org) established whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies, data and educational material.
 == See also ==

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 In '''XX''' and '''XXI''' century, a series of other desktop and server Open Source GIS projects were started:
-* geospatial libraries: [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ PROJ.4], [http://www.osgeo.org/geotools Geotools], Geoserver, TerraLib, [http://trac.osgeo.org/ggl/ Boost.Geometry]
+* geospatial libraries: [https://proj.org/ PROJ], [http://www.osgeo.org/geotools Geotools], Geoserver, TerraLib, [http://trac.osgeo.org/ggl/ Boost.Geometry]
 * Desktop GIS: [http://grass.osgeo.org GRASS GIS], SAGA GIS, uDIG, [http://www.osgeo.org/gvsig gvSIG],[http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/ILWIS ILWIS]
 * Web mapping/WebGIS: [http://www.osgeo.org/deegree deegree], [https://mapserver.org MapServer], [http://www.osgeo.org/mapguide MapGuide Open Source]
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 '''since 1982-today''' - [http://www.osgeo.org/grass GRASS GIS] (Geographical Resources Analysis Support System) is the earliest Open Source GIS which reached production status and supported both raster and vector data. It was originally developed from 1982 to 1995 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, since then by the international GRASS Development Team. Initially published as public domain software, its license was changed to GNU GPL (General Public License, see www.gnu.org) in 1999. Dr. Jim Westerwelt has written an article about the [http://grass.osgeo.org/uploads/grass/history_docs/westervelt2004_GRASS_roots.pdf initial GRASS development history].
-'''1983''' - [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ PROJ4 library] development started. The original proj was developed in the early 1980's as a ratfor (a fortran preprocessor)
+'''1983''' - [https://proj.org/ PROJ library] development started. The original PROJ was developed in the early 1980's as a ratfor (a fortran preprocessor)
 program (Evenden, 1983) with much of the code derived from the Geological
 Survey’s General Cartographic Transformation Package (gctp) (superceded

@@ Line 92: / Line 92: @@
 ** PostGIS History: http://www.refractions.net/products/postgis/history/
 ** JTS / GEOS History: http://lin-ear-th-inking.blogspot.com/2007/06/history-of-jts-and-geos.html
-** MapServer History: http://trac.osgeo.org/mapserver/wiki/MapServerHistory
+** MapServer History: https://trac.osgeo.org/mapserver/wiki/MapServerHistory
 ** GeoTools History: http://docs.codehaus.org/display/GEOTOOLS/History History
 ** GeoServer History: http://docs.geoserver.org/latest/en/user/introduction/history.html

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 * geospatial libraries: [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ PROJ.4], [http://www.osgeo.org/geotools Geotools], Geoserver, TerraLib, [http://trac.osgeo.org/ggl/ Boost.Geometry]
 * Desktop GIS: [http://grass.osgeo.org GRASS GIS], SAGA GIS, uDIG, [http://www.osgeo.org/gvsig gvSIG],[http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/ILWIS ILWIS]
-* Web mapping/WebGIS: [http://www.osgeo.org/deegree deegree], [http://www.osgeo.org/mapserver UMN MapServer], [http://www.osgeo.org/mapguide MapGuide Open Source]
+* Web mapping/WebGIS: [http://www.osgeo.org/deegree deegree], [https://mapserver.org MapServer], [http://www.osgeo.org/mapguide MapGuide Open Source]
 * geostatistics software: gstat, R Project for Statistical Computing
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 is an integral part, was transfered to the Unix operating system. (References refer to [ftp://ftp.remotesensing.org/proj/OF90-284.pdf])
-'''1994''' - [https://mapserver.org UMN MapServer] project started. In '''2002''' MapServer gets Python support.
+'''1994''' - [https://mapserver.org MapServer] project started. In '''2002''' MapServer gets Python support.
 '''1995''' - [http://rasdaman.eecs.jacobs-university.de/trac/rasdaman rasdaman] raster data manager project started. In '''2009''' rasdaman was open sourced.