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Desktop GIS: Mapping the Planet with Open Source Tools 1st Edition

by Gary E Sherman (Author)
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
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Desktop GIS explores the world of Open Source GIS software and provides a guide to navigate the many options available. Discover what kind of GIS user you are and lay the foundation to evaluate the options and decide what software is best for you.

Desktop GIS examines the challenges associated with assembling and using an OSGIS toolkit. You'll find strategies for choosing a platform, selecting the right tools, integration, managing change, and getting support. The survey of OSGIS desktop applications provides you with a quick introduction to the many packages available. You'll see examples of both GUI (Graphical User Interface) and command line interfaces to give you a feel for what is available.

This book will give you an understanding of the Open Source GIS landscape, along with a detailed look at the major desktop applications, including GRASS, Quantum GIS, uDig, spatial databases, GMT, and other command line tools. Finally, the book exposes you to scripting in the OSGIS world, using Python, shell, and other languages to visualize, digitize, and analyze your data.

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  1. ISBN-10
    1934356069
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1934356067
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Pragmatic Bookshelf
  5. Publication date
    November 7, 2008
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    7.5 x 1.01 x 9 inches
  8. Print length
    368 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Author

This book is out of print and has been updated, revised, and published with a new title: The Geospatial Desktop. It is available on Amazon.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pragmatic Bookshelf; 1st edition (November 7, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1934356069
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1934356067
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.4 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 1.01 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

About the author

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Gary Sherman

Gary Sherman

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Gary Sherman has a wide and varied background, including that of geologist, mining engineer, software engineer, and author. He has authored both technical books and articles, as well as fiction. In addition to being the founder of a successful open source GIS project, Gary has published two books on the topic.

When writing fiction, he draws on the depth of his background, providing vivid descriptions of life on the last frontier, wildlife encounters, and survival. Further, his experience as an outdoor enthusiast provides inspiration in the stories he tells.

Gary resides in Alaska and regularly watches moose from his living room window.

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
8 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

M. Henri De Feraudy
5.0 out of 5 stars The place to start
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2009
Verified Purchase
There is not much choice. If you want to use free GIS software and you are starting out, you'll pretty much need to buy this book to get an overview of the possibilities.
Not that it's perfect, the book is necessarily a little outdated now, since the versions of such software such as Quantum GIS are no longer version 0.9 but 1.02 for the stable version and 1.3 for the development version.
But heck it's not the bells and whistles that count, it's the overall picture so you know where to look.
This covers a lot of different FOSS GIS applications, like GRASS UDIG, QGIS,OpenJump and others, but it gives most attention to GGis and Grass, which is not surprising, given the author is the person who started QGis and it works with Grass.
I would have saved a month of time had I started with this book rather than pester people on forums.
6 people found this helpful
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K.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book I Highly Recommend It
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2015
Verified Purchase
As a public health professional and applied anthropologist looking to break into the field of health informatics, I really enjoyed "Desktop GIS: Mapping the Planet with Open Source Tools." Gary Sherman's book breaks down complicated GIS topics in a way that's easy to understand, while walking readers through the various options and resources available in the free and open software world. I've determined which application would work best for my needs and have downloaded QGIS (and manual, of course) and am looking forward to following along "Advanced Viewing and Rendering" section of "Working with Vector Data." This is going to make my life so much easier. I will definitely be recommending this book to every student of GIS I meet.
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Matt
4.0 out of 5 stars When did this book TRIPLE IN PRICE?
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2011
It is a great book, with in introduction to a lot of OSGIS tools. But it used to have a retail price of $34.95. Now it is priced like a college textbook.

It is a 5 star book for the price I paid.
4 people found this helpful
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Dylan Beaudette
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Primer on Open Source GIS
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2008
The book "Desktop GIS: Mapping the Planet with Open Source Tools" is an excellent resource for students and instructors in the field of GIS-- or the interested amateur cartographer. Most courses in spatial analysis and map-making are taught using expensive, proprietary software packages that are only available at universities or large consulting firms. Open source GIS software, while widely available, is not well known or used outside of a relatively small circle of power users. Getting up to speed on open source GIS applications used to require a tremendous time investment reading documentation, and asking questions on mailing lists or IRC. This time investment was a series limiting factor for many potential users of open source GIS software.

"Desktop GIS" fills this long-standing gap in the form of example-based and task-oriented documentation. The format of this book should appeal to a wide audience, as it can be used as a flip-through reference or can be read cover to cover for a more comprehensive overview. Already I have leant this book to colleagues seeking more information on QGIS, GRASS, and R integration. This book, and others like it will certainly empower interested users to answer spatial analysis questions and make beautiful maps- without being tied to expensive annual license costs.
29 people found this helpful
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B. A. Wood
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended! Desktop GIS: Mapping the Planet with Open Source Tools
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2008
Desktop GIS: Mapping the Planet with Open Source Tools is a book I have already recommended to several people and organisations around the world who are starting out with GIS.

For anyone looking to explore or map data, from hobbyists to serious biologists, ecologists, etc, this book is the ideal introduction to GIS. It presents the underlying concepts of GIS in a chatty, easy to understand style, and introduces a range of freely available software tools which will enable virtually anyone to map or analyse their data, from beginners looking to plot data on a simple desktop map, to those who wish to carry out sophisticated spatial analyses, this book presents a range of solutions covering them all.
11 people found this helpful
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T. Mitchell
5.0 out of 5 stars Looking forward to the 2nd edition
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2011
I really enjoyed Gary's book - it really is the only one out there with this type of overview. If you think it's just about QGIS, Gary's specialty, you'd miss the advantage of this book. I am glad that Locate Press is able to publish a comprehensively updated reprint of Gary's popular, sold-out, book. It should be out later this summer (2011).
2 people found this helpful
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