……….andthis was a given…….So what am i going to tell you that you don’t already know about QGIS. If you’ve even remotely been up here for any length of time you know I’m a fan and use the software for work, attempt to train people in it, and just generally enjoy it.
So here’s something a bit different: QGIS Community
Yeah – it’s not a technical post but a post about the group of people I’ve gotten the chance to talk to over the last year:
- Nyall Dawson – he completely rocked the QGIS meeting we had in Chattanooga. Remotely. He stayed up from 11:00 PM to over midnight (Australian whatever time) to talk to a group of people in Chattanooga. Not paid and never blinked. He’s a major contributor/programmer in the QGIS Community. He’s awesome.
- Nathan Woodrow – The first person to answer my first QGIS Question (maybe in 2012?). He randomly pops up in the morning and we chat. Why? I have no clue why anyone wants to talk to me but I appreciate the random notes, google chats, and questions. Plus he has to put up with me asking random python questions.
- Saber Razmjooei – So Saber popped up one day and asked “Hey have you heard about Input?” and he patiently waited for me to get time cleared out and walked me through the software. Even did a video hangout which meant for him it was after hours. It was awesome.
Why is QGIS So much fun? It’s these people. Not necessarily ONLY these people. It’s the interaction with the community. I’ve been in GIS for way to long so you can jump up and point at your technical support and I’ll go “meh”. Show me the people using the software and other people I can talk to at this point.
The QGIS Community starts here:
…and it builds out from there. Communication happens over the email lists. I tune in there and twitter for news and noise. It’s a good group of people who are friendly and good at answering questions. Bonus you get to watch this all get made if you want. Yes – watch this all come together as debates are held, questions raised, and problems are all out in the open. It’s awesome. I have filed terrible bug reports and good bug reports and people answer them. I have complained and they’ve responded with just being super nice about my complaining.
So I’d encourage you to join the email lists, donate time and resources, and contribute to a great project. So for the 10th day of XYMas – I give you a community of people.
