Undersökning av open source GIS programvaror
Med hänsyn till MSB?s användningsområden internt och för RIB Karta
MSB stands for Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. It?s a government organization that deals with emergencies and crises. MSB has developed a software package where the newest software version is called RIB 2012. The package includes the program RIB Karta. RIB Karta has made it possible to produce an overall picture consisting of different types of information onto a single map. RIB Karta is a very simple map viewer without any analysis functions.The purpose of this degree project is to compare several open source software with the existing RIB Karta. The study will result in suggestions for a possible open source program which allows the use of geographic data internally within MSB and the existing RIB Karta. The programs that were studied are: gvSIG, MapWindow, OpenJUMP, Quantum GIS and uDig.The advantage of using open source software is that they are free, and the access to the source code allows them to be modified to suit your needs. This program is also an alternative to RIB Karta meaning that the program may be freely distributed resulting in a great advantage. One disadvantage is that if major changes in the source code are made, the support may be difficult to access. The license for open source software designed to code should be made available for everyone.Investigations by various open source GIS software have been implemented in the order to present the program that has more features than RIB Karta but still understandable to people with non-GIS experience. When compared with one another, the studies show pros and cons within each of the programs. The investigations have been made after a survey template that was developed after meetings with MSB. Functions, analysis capabilities and ease of use are what have been taken into account. The most suitable software is therefore chosen after taking into account these distinguishing factorsFrom the results of the studies Quantum GIS software is recommended for internal use in MSB and in RIB Karta. Based on its variety in terms of features and good usability we conclude that Quantum GIS is the best choice.