Open Source GIS Software

Actually there is a ton of free GIS software out there, but I've found QGIS to be the best of the bunch:

"Quantum GIS (QGIS) is a powerful and user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) that runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows and Android. QGIS supports vector, raster, and database formats. QGIS is licensed under the GNU Public License. "

Features:

• Direct viewing of vector and raster data in different formats and projections. Supported formats include: 
• Mapping and interactive exploration of spatial data. Tools include: 
• Create, edit and export spatial data 
• Perform spatial analysis,  
• Publish your map on the internet using QGIS Server or the "Export to Mapfile" capability (requires UMN MapServer) 
• Adapt QGIS to your needs through the extensible plugin architecture.

EDvent Calendar: Day 6 (Open street map)

If you're slightly concerned about how nicely Google has woven itself into anything on the web that requires a map, there is hope. Open Street Map is a wiki-based mapping site that allows people to participate in crowd-sourcing the creation of maps. Have a look at OSM. Is your street there? If it's not, log in and add it. Add points of interest like schools, hospitals and parks.

This video shows a time-lapse of the creation of the map covering the greater London area. It's a lovely metaphor for a community of people creating knowledge out of darkness.
London OSM Edits 2005-2010 from ItoWorld on Vimeo.

Open Street Map

This is a cool project: a wiki-based street map of the world to compete with Google's maps. It's quite amazing how dependent we are on Google to provide mapping mash-ups for the web: geocaching, real estate sales, finding our way to places, business directories etc. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a community-owned alternative that couldn't be turned into a revenue stream at a future date? Well, yes that would be nice. Oh wait.. there is one: OpenStreetMap.org