QGIS. A powerful GIS Suite that doesn't come with a toolset so much as a tool warehouse.
April 10, 2017
QGIS. A powerful GIS Suite that doesn't come with a toolset so much as a tool warehouse.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with QGIS
I have been visiting and re-vising QGIS periodically since I began working with GIS softwares in 2005, comparing it always to the commercial products I was learning to use in school (ArcGIS, IDRISI, ENVI, ERDAS). Every software I have listed above has evolved greatly over that period of time, but none quite as much as QGIS.
Part of the continual growth of QGIS is in terms of UI refinement and improvements to ease-of-use and workflow. Steadily, the GUI has improved along with the underlying toolset. I feel that now QGIS is certainly the premiere free GIS software, as well as a strong contender in its own right, with lower barriers to entry than any other GIS software, making it my pick for what GIS students and professionals should be trained on first.
After graduating college, I transitioned all of my previous work to QGIS so that I would still have access to my data, maps, analyses, and work despite no longer having access to the various commercial tools I used while at university. The value of being able to "keep" my work with open formats and free tools cannot be understated.
Part of the continual growth of QGIS is in terms of UI refinement and improvements to ease-of-use and workflow. Steadily, the GUI has improved along with the underlying toolset. I feel that now QGIS is certainly the premiere free GIS software, as well as a strong contender in its own right, with lower barriers to entry than any other GIS software, making it my pick for what GIS students and professionals should be trained on first.
After graduating college, I transitioned all of my previous work to QGIS so that I would still have access to my data, maps, analyses, and work despite no longer having access to the various commercial tools I used while at university. The value of being able to "keep" my work with open formats and free tools cannot be understated.
- The FOSS nature of the software means any and everyone can have access to it, and that those same people can contribute to its growth and development.
- The ever-expanding library of analyses and tools are a testament to the power of FOSS model, and the advantage it provides compared to the other commercial suites.
- Cross-platform (Win, Mac, Linux, Android [Beta]).
- Low (relatively) system requirements.
- Wide data format support for import/export, with ability to expand via Plugins.
- Tight integration into OpenStreetMap and other Web Mapping Services (WMS).
- Acts as a graphical front-end to the GRASS analysis suite, which has been in development since 1984 and contains over 350 modules.
- GUI still trails others in terms of ease-of-use and modernness (No Ribbon UI, no command searchbar like IDRISI).
- No dedicated support channels like you get with commercial GIS software.
- QGIS has allowed me to retain access to my years of data, work, and analyses that were completed under commercial tools that I no longer have a license to use. I now own my data, and the tools to refine it further, with no cost to myself.
- QGIS has a large and enthusiastic community world-wide, which enables many opportunities for great collaborative GIS work.
- QGIS is easily obtained, easily deployed, and works on nearly any OS that would be found in a production environment.
- Learning QGIS when coming from nearly 12 years of primarily ArcGIS use has been difficult, but not impossible. The transition was worthwhile.
Each of the products have their strong points and their weak points, as well as some products being particularly adept at certain analyses or workflows. That being said, QGIS can do nearly everything all of the above products can do, and it does them for free, with continual updates and additions to the library of plugins and analyses.
Furthermore, the foundation that QGIS is built upon when GRASS is leveraged means that over 30 years of GIS research, work, and development support the tools and analyses you're using. The depth and breadth of the toolset under QGIS is astounding.Much like learning Python or LaTex, it is difficult, but the payout at the end is worthwhile.