[GNHLUG] [DLSLUG-Announce] TOMORROW: OpenStreetMap - Open Data for Mapping - DLSLUG Monthly Meeting 2009-06-04
Bill McGonigle
bill at bfccomputing.com
Wed Jun 3 00:30:29 EDT 2009
[ talk is Thursday, practical is Saturday ]
[ please RSVP so I can tell our refreshment sponsors how many ]
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Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Linux User Group
http://dlslug.org/
a chapter of GNHLUG - http://gnhlug.org
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The next regular monthly meeting of DLSLUG will be held:
Thursday, June 4th, 7-9PM
at: Dartmouth College, Carson L02
All are welcome, free of charge.
Agenda
5:30 Pre-meeting dinner at EBA's.
7:00 Sign-in, networking
7:15 Introductory remarks
7:20 OpenStreetMap - Open Data for Mapping
presented by Russ Nelson
Russ is currently pitching Open Data. The left hand to Open
Source's right hand, Open Data is an essential part of many
programs. You may think "Oh, but my program doesn't use any
data". But what about fonts? What about configuration files?
What about any files your program reads or writes?
OpenStreetMap is geodata, a collection of locations
(intersections), connections between them (roads), and
connections between the connections (bus routes). All of these
can have arbitrary amounts of metadata stored with them, like
names, speed limits, purpose of the road, etc. All of this is
stored in a PostgreSQL database and available through an API
which presents a simpler interface than raw SQL queries.
With all of this data in hand, you can make a map. But maps
aren't new; why is OpenStreetMap (OSM) new? OpenStreetMap is
licensed under a community reciprocal license, so that people
who contribute to it are confident that the people who
distribute it will reciprocate under the same license. Unlike
public domain data like the Census's TIGER data, OSM has a
custodian who wants your contributions. Unlike proprietary data
like Google Maps, or its underlying proprietary geodata, OSM
is freely copyable and open to all for editing.
Russ Nelson is an early Linux adopter; in fact an early adopter
of all sorts of technology, including the first non-Compaq iPAQ
reflashed to run Linux. He finally gave up on assembly language
a few years ago and now programs in C and most languages
beginning with P. He almost got a PhD from Clarkson University
but managed to escape writing a dissertation.
Russ has been giving away his software since he started
writing it in 1974. Prior to his GPLed Freemacs package,
there weren't many people to distribute it to. He really came to
the fore with his Packet Driver Collection, begun while a
staff member at Clarkson. A GPL'ed set of DOS Ethernet
drivers, they arguably put GPL'ed software on more CPU's than
anything prior to Linux. Supporting free software full-time
since 1991, Russell is a founding member of the Open Source
Initiative and a Cloudmate Community Ambassador. He lives in
Potsdam, NY with his wife and two nearly-adult children, but
was born in NYC and raised in Baldwin out in Nassau County.
8:50 Roundtable Exchange - where the attendees can make
announcements or ask a Linux/FLOSS question of the group.
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Driving Directions
Please see the website for links to driving directions.
Refreshments
We currently lack a refreshment sponsor. If you or your
company would like to provide or sponsor refreshments,
please get in touch.
RSVP
RSVP by replying to this e-mail so we can give any
refreshment sponsor a count.
Mailing Lists
There are two primary mailman lists set up for DLSLUG, an
Announce list and a Discuss list. Please sign up for the
Announce list (moderated, low-volume) to stay apprised of
the group's activities and the Discuss list (unmoderated)
for group discussion. Links to the mailing lists are on the
webpage.
Tell Your Friends
Please pass this announcement along to anyone else who may
be interested.
--
Bill McGonigle, Owner Work: 603.448.4440
BFC Computing, LLC Home: 603.448.1668
http://www.bfccomputing.com/ Cell: 603.252.2606
Twitter, etc.: bill_mcgonigle Page: 603.442.1833
Email, IM, VOIP: bill at bfccomputing.com
Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/
VCard: http://bfccomputing.com/vcard/bill.vcf
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