English version based on automatic translation with deepl.

The last few days I was at the FOSSGIS conference again for the first time since many years. And I would like to share a few impressions on various topics here.

Talk

I presented a talk on satellite image processing at the conference. You can watch the recording at CCC.

The association will probably publish the slides soon.

Satellite image topics that go beyond more or less standardized analytics (we extract some semantic information from the image and then work with it) are always quite exotic at FOSSGIS. I therefore tried to make the whole thing sufficiently easy to understand, which of course means that you can’t go into depth in 20 minutes. The presentation was well attended on site, but most of the feedback was initially – as you can expect at FOSSGIS – about the gaps in the capabilities of FOSS tools that I mentioned.

What is particularly interesting in this context is that it became clear in discussions as well as in various other presentations how much the funding of FOSS development is geared towards short-term immediate needs and how – especially in the area of basic tools such as GDAL – strategic investments are practically non-existent. I have often remarked on this in the context of OpenStreetMap in relation to map design. However, until now I had not realized how widespread this phenomenon is in the FOSS sector in general. But it is quite understandable. When Esri, for example, invests in the development of GDAL, it is not doing so in order to compete with its own products. The aim is more likely to be the same as with other sponsors: to cover immediate needs for its own products and services in the short term.

Against this background, my idea that there might be potential here for an economically viable cooperation between method development (what I do) and professional open source software development that makes these methods available to other users is perhaps somewhat naive. Because such a cooperation would of course only work economically in context of a strategic investment.

Cartography

I also attended a number of events at the conference on map design with QGIS and gained interesting insights into this world of interactive map design.

To understand the background: All of my map design work is based on a non-interactive work paradigm. I develop the rules for the design and the associated data processing in the form of rule descriptions in suitable languages (CartoCSS, PostgreSQL, various general scripting languages and structured file formats). Interactive work steps play a role practically exclusively in the design of image symbols. These design rules are then applied to generic geodata (in most cases OpenStreetMap data).

However, users of QGIS and similar tools work in a completely different way. The usual working paradigm there is based on the first-generation digitization approach that has taken place in many areas of work – including cartography: You transfer the pre-digital workflows one-to-one into interactive digital steps. In the field of cartography, this approach has now been further developed to the extent that – at least partially – rule-based work is also possible, i.e. the processing steps carried out interactively can be automatically applied to changed source data. However, rule development is still done completely interactively via a graphical user interface, so you have to click together your map design with the mouse (or alternatively: control the whole thing completely via a programming interface). There still does not seem to be a representation of the design rules in text form designed for human reading and writing.

But of course there is a lot of overlap in problems and solutions between the two approaches. And it was interesting to see where the focus is currently being placed in the QGIS area.

What I found remarkable was how great the desire seems to be among QGIS users to have all solutions within QGIS. For example, a big topic seemed to be displaying charts in maps and what chart types and display forms are available within QGIS. For me, as a firm believer in the Unix philosophy, this seems rather absurd. There are already a lot of good and powerful tools for creating diagrams – also as open source. So why do you need such a function within QGIS? I have the impression that the focus on interactive operation plays a major role here. The user really wants to design the diagrams interactively – just like the rest of the map – and wants to do this with a user interface that is consistent with the rest of QGIS. Of course, this could also be implemented with external tools for creating diagrams, but would largely negate the benefits of modularization in line with the Unix philosophy.

Annual general meeting of the association

I would also like to mention the annual general meeting of the FOSSGIS association. The most important point here was that FOSSGIS wanted to obtain (and received) approval from its members to raise funds from OSM data users on behalf of OpenStreetMap Deutschland – planned in the form of so-called sponsoring memberships in the association without voting rights.

I don’t want to discuss the topic itself in depth here – that might be something for a separate blog post. However, it was interesting to note that I was the only one who did not vote in favor of the motion. This was despite the fact that there were critical questions about the idea at the meeting. I was approached very positively by several people after the meeting – partly in the form of them explaining their own critical perspective on the topic, partly out of active interest in the reasons for my cautious stance. Of course, the fact that I have not received any negative comments on this may simply be ghosting, but I would like to mention it explicitly here anyway, in case this helps others to develop the courage to openly not align with the dominant majority opinion in such cases.

The development and organization of the German-speaking and international OSM communities was, of course, a frequent topic of the conversations I had. And i noticed a relatively strong contrast in those exchanges. On the one hand, there were conversations based on an active interest in diverse perspectives on the OSM community – especially with various active members of FOSSGIS from the non-OSM sector who are interested in further developing the social structures in the association for better integration of the entire diversity of people that the association wants to represent.

On the other hand, I have also had conversations in which a critical perspective on existing structures was either generally rejected out of hand or I was denied the justification and qualification for a critical perspective as an outside observer.

So far, this is not really surprising and basically to be expected. What I find a pity, however, is that there hardly seems to be any nuance between the two. The value of a productive discourse arises precisely from the fact that different points of view and arguments are received sympathetically and then critically examined.

I do not have the impression that the benevolently open and tolerant attitude is being lost across the board in FOSSGIS – I think I have shown that with the descriptions of my discussions at this conference. But I do see the danger that, especially where short-term economic interests come to dominate, closed interest groups emerge that increasingly develop a categorical rejection of views and ideas that are perceived as jeopardize these interests.

Talk recommendations

I’ve only seen a selection of presentations on site – because at FOSSGIS there is always the very practical and reliable option of watching the presentations later on video. From this selection and from various conversations with other visitors, here is a selection of recommendations:

Harald Hartmann: Wie können OpenStreetMap und QGIS einen Wegewart unterstützen? (How can OpenStreetMap and QGIS support a route maintainer?)

The title may not sound so appealing, but it was one of the few OSM presentations at the conference that dealt with practical questions of the social benefits and social integration of OpenStreetMap without focusing on technical or economic aspects.

Roland Olbricht: Kinder, Karten, Open Source (Children, maps, open source)

Just like Harald’s presentation, refreshingly non-technical. And deals with a really important and interesting topic: how to introduce children to concepts of maps and geodata (and geography) and their practical use. What the talk lacks is a consideration of the wealth of experience of child-friendly cartography and geography didactics for children from even pre-digital times. But highly recommended for a first insight into the topic and to raise awareness.

Frederik Ramm: Overpass Turbo goes PostGIS

Not only practically appealing, but also a nice demonstration of how a small FOSS project can be started with practical benefits. Of course, it should also be critically noted that you first have to be able to afford the infrastructure for such a demo.

Falk Zscheile: Text und Data Mining in der OpenStreetMap-Datenbank aus rechtlicher Sicht (Text and data mining in the OpenStreetMap database from a legal perspective)

I haven’t seen this presentation myself yet, but I spoke to Falk about the topic. About a sub-topic from the spectrum of copyright and database law that many people don’t have on their radar.