> 
> On Tue, Nov 26, 2002 at 03:01:09PM +1300, brook@biology.nmsu.edu wrote:
> > Alistair Crooks writes:
> >  > On Tue, Nov 12, 2002 at 01:03:08AM +1030, wulf@ping.net.au wrote:
> >  > > I've been porting several GIS applications such as proj4, shapelibs, mapserv,
> >  > > gpsd etc with several others to follow and hence would like to create
> >  > > a new category "pkgsrc/gis" that accommodate this type of application - see
> >  > > http://www.freegis.org for more information on GIS.
> >  > > 
> >  > > Are there any objections in creating this new category? 
> >  > 
> >  > Usually we just put them into the bucket categories - misc, devel - until we
> >  > get a critical mass for a new category - I'd encourage you to do the same here.
> > 
> > I would like to suggest that indeed "gis" would be a valuable new
> > category.  I, for example, have long wanted one and have made some
> > packages for my own use that would fit into such a category.  There is
> > a rather large amount of software relating to GIS, much of which is
> > organized at www.freegis.org.  Because there is a useful reference
> > site it would be relatively easy to track down the critical mass.
> 
> Having a gis category would be good if we had some gis packages - from
> a pkgsrc PoV, I'd prefer to see it the other way around.
>  
> > Perhaps creating the category and starting to fill it would serve as a
> > catalyst and would enable NetBSD to be used as a general GIS platform.
> > That would be a very valuable thing, actually.
> 
> Well, I'm not sure about that - we had a corba category some time ago,
> and nothing seemed to become of that.
> 
> Having said all of that, I'd really like to see gis packages, and,
> yes, if we get a critical mass (there are currently 8 packages in the
> ham category, which probably gives a decent rule of thumb to "critical
> mass"), then we'll make a separate category for them. Let's start walking
> before we can run, though, and port these packages to NetBSD...

I don't care about the critical mass, but I do care when it comes to a
descriptive category that indicates the type of applications it hosts
by virtue of its title. This gives those searching for a particular type of
application a real chance to find what they are looking for. Many times
did I search for applications only to find them in categories that
were the least I expected. 

Do you think that 6 GIS packages are a good starting point sufficient
to make you change your mind? There is plenty more to come with
applications such as GRASS, MITAB etc... plus those that already exist in
the current pkgsrc tree such as dgsip, gmt etc. If so, I will start 
submitting packages as soons as the GIS category is created.

Alternatively they are keept in my local packages source tree amongst
many other applications that haven't found resonance and interest 
from within the NetBSD community.

cheerio Berndt