Software Stack
From Arnulf:
We suggest to install and maintain a stable version of a basic stack. ('basic stack' refers to the below software list that most of our client's sites run as productive systems). The stack includes:
- PostgreSQl as database
- PostGIS as spatial extension
- MapServer as WMS
- GeoServer as WFS-T
- Mapbender and MapBuilder as WMS and WFS-T Client
We have this package running on FreeBSD, Debian, Ubuntu, SuSE, Mandrake, Gentoo (and probably some others including good old windoze). You will know which OS it should be.
MapServer automatically brings some HTML demos that just need to get set up. GeoServer packages with MapBuilder, so we'd have that one too almost automatically. They also provide for some demo data that could be moved into the PostgreSQL database. We'd throw in some Open/Free data for Germany (nothing special, just some very rough topography, infrastructure, place names and postal code polygons). Mapbender brings in a hundred OGC service URL that are operated all over the world. All of these would be added as records/features to both WFS and WMS service as rectangles (the corresponding bboxes) to serve as source for discovery and harvesting (delivery for the Public Geospatial Data Committee ). A WMS getFeatureInfo request on MapServer would return the respective Capabilities URL and a description, the coresponding GeoServer WFS getFeature request additionally the bbox rectangle and some meta data. This could be enhanced with a Wiki page adding some human readable discussion for each service. We have started doing this at the Mapbender Wiki but as it is a central thing we suggest to move the efforts to the OSGeo right away.
One of the next services that we would suggest to get done is an OSGeo member WMS and WFS-T. Everybody who entered a coordinate to: All Members could easily be transferred as a WKT point to the PostgreSQL/PostGIS database and served as a map by MapServer and as WFS GML by GeoServer, display and editing can be done with Mapbender and MapBuilder. Something like that. All the projects have a user map (GRASS, Mapbender, GeoServer, MapServer, etc.) and the OSGeo should also have one.
From Markus:
I would like to see a GIS here as well...