List of Mapping Software

[Hai-Etlik]

Title: Inkscape
Vendor: Open Source
Web Site: http://www.inkscape.org/
Type: Vector
Focus: General
Platform: Multiplatform, uses GTK+
Price: Free
Description:
A Free/Open Source vector graphics editor comparable to Corel DRAW, Adobe Photoshop, or Xara Xtreme.
Examples: The Lands of the Inner Sea, A Planisphere of Her Majesty's Martian Colony, SEI Habitat Loss in the Cowichan River Basin, Solid Geological Map of the Capel Curig, Snowdonia area, Canada.

Title: ArcGIS Desktop
Vendor: ESRI
Web Site: http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/index.html
Type: Raster/Vector
Focus: GIS
Platform: Windows
Price: 1,500 USD for a Single Use ArcView license, it goes up from there rapidly.
Description:
One of the top commercial desktop GISes.
Examples: Vancouver Island Community Groundwater Mapping Project, SEI Habitat Loss in the Cowichan River Basin, Solid Geological Map of the Capel Curig, Snowdonia area

Title: QuantumGIS (QGIS)
Vendor: Open Source Geospatial Foundation
Web Site: http://www.qgis.org/
Type: Raster/Vector
Focus: Desktop GIS
Platform: Multiplatform, uses QT
Price: Free
Description:
A Free/Open Source desktop GIS.
Examples: A Planisphere of Her Majesty's Martian Colony, Canada

Title: GeoServer
Vendor: Open Source
Web Site: http://geoserver.org/
Type: Raster/Vector/Tile
Focus: OGC Compliant WMS/WFS/WCS server.
Platform: Java
Price: Free
Description:
A Free/Open Source geospatial information server and the official reference implementation for the OGC standards. In simple terms, it is a program that can provide the data to run a "slippy map" like Google Maps, Bing Maps, etc. It can also provide data to plug into a GIS.
Examples: Vancouver Island Community Groundwater Mapping Project

Title: OpenLayers
Vendor: Open Source
Web Site: http://openlayers.org/
Type: Raster/Vector/Tile
Focus: Web based slippy map.
Platform: Javascript
Price: Free
Description:
A Free/Open Source web slippymap with support for WMS, WFS, KML, Google, Bing, ArcGIS, and various other data sources.
Examples: Vancouver Island Community Groundwater Mapping Project, RetroMap

Title: PostGIS
Vendor: Refractions Research
Web Site: http://postgis.refractions.net/
Type: Vector, Raster in development.
Focus: GIS layer for the Postgres RDBMS.
Platform: Postgres
Price: Free
Description:
Adds robust GIS data types to Postgres, including OGC Simple Features for SQL.
Examples: Vancouver Island Community Groundwater Mapping Project,RetroMap

Title: uDig
Vendor: Refractions Research
Web Site: http://udig.refractions.net/
Type: Vector, Raster.
Focus: Desktop GIS
Platform: Java
Price: Free
Description:
A somewhat simpler desktop GIS written in Java.
Examples:

Title: GRASS
Vendor: Open Source Geospatial Foundation
Web Site: http://grass.fbk.eu/
Type: Vector, Raster.
Focus: GIS
Platform: Multiplatform, Unix Oriented
Price: Free
Description:
Probably the most advanced, powerful, and flexible Open Source GIS, though the interface is a bit arcane.
Examples: