SIG & Territoires is the portal for GIS professionals. It offers information on the latest GIS technologies, training and resources for professionals in the sector. GIS & Territoires is the ideal starting point for professionals wishing to find out more about GIS and how to use it to improve their activities.

• 
  [EN]Modifying a QGIS Layer Without Putting Your Data at Risk
  Modifying data in a QGIS layer is often the moment when beginner plugin developers start feeling nervous: What if I break something? That concern is completely understandable—and actually a good sign. The good news is that…
• 
  [EN]Download QGIS 4.0 Portable for Windows (Full & Lite Versions)
  Looking for a portable version of QGIS for Windows that runs without installation or administrator privileges? I provide two ready-to-use QGIS Portable distributions: a Full version and a Lite version, suitable for professionals, students, universities and…
• 
  [EN]Download QGIS 3.44 LTR Portable for Windows (Full Version)
  Looking for a portable version of QGIS 3.44 LTR for Windows that runs without installation or administrator privileges? This ready-to-use portable distribution is designed for GIS professionals, students, universities, training courses and organizations where software installation…
• 
  [EN]Developing a QGIS Plugin: Applying Business Logic to User Input
  Collecting user input is an important milestone in QGIS plugin development. However, a useful plugin does more than simply read values entered in a dialog box. It validates data, applies rules, and makes decisions based on…
• 
  [EN]Developing a QGIS Plugin: Retrieving User Input
  When you first start developing QGIS plugins, it is easy to assume that a button should automatically “do something” when it is clicked. In reality, a button does nothing at all—until you tell it what to…
• 
  [EN]How to Read QGIS Plugin Code Without Panicking
  Reading the code of a QGIS plugin can quickly become stressful when you are new to Python. Multiple files, classes, unfamiliar methods… everything can seem complex at first glance. And yet, you don’t need to understand…
• 
  [EN]Developing a QGIS Plugin: Adding a Button and a Dialog
  Adding a button to the QGIS interface is often the first concrete step when developing a plugin. It is what turns a simple Python script into a tool that can actually be used by end users.…
• 
  [EN]Developing a QGIS Plugin: Creating a Plugin with Plugin Builder
  Creating a QGIS plugin is much easier than it may seem, especially when you are new to programming. Thanks to Plugin Builder, you can generate the complete structure of a QGIS plugin in just a few…
• 
  [EN]Developing a QGIS Plugin: Why and How to Create a Plugin
  Developing a QGIS plugin may seem reserved for experienced programmers, but with the right approach, anyone can create their own. This tutorial explains why plugins are essential, what they can do, and how a plugin is…

Why do we prefer Open Source software?

Geomatics is a discipline at the crossroads of geography and computer science, which involves using software tools to collect, store, analyze and represent spatial data. In this field, the use of open source software offers many advantages.

First of all, what is open source software? It’s software whose source code is publicly available and can therefore be modified and distributed by anyone. It also means that the software is often free, in the sense that it can be used without license fees. The open source movement was born in the 1990s with the emergence of Linux, an open source operating system based on the Unix kernel. Since then, many other open source software products have emerged, covering a wide range of fields, including geomatics. Licenses play an essential role in the operation of open source software. The GPL. General Public License is one of the most common in the open source world. It guarantees fundamental freedoms for users, including the freedom to use, modify and redistribute the software. Many libraries, frameworks and open source tools used in geomatics are distributed under the GPL license.

One of the major advantages of open source geomatics software is its flexibility. Developers have access to the software’s source code, enabling them to adapt it to their specific needs. For example, if you’re using open source geospatial data visualization software and want to add a specific feature, you can modify the source code to implement it.

Another important feature of open source software is the community of developers that surrounds it. These communities are made up of volunteer programmers who actively contribute to the development and improvement of open source software. They share their knowledge, resolve bugs and provide support to users. This ensures the software’s longevity and scalability, as new versions and features are continually developed.

Among the most popular open source geomatics software are GIS-based geographic information systems such as QGIS, which offer a user-friendly graphical interface and powerful spatial analysis functions. There are also libraries such as GDAL and proj, which can be used to manipulate geospatial data in a wide range of formats. As far as geospatial databases are concerned, PostgreSQL with the PostGIS extension is a popular open source solution. It enables efficient storage and processing of spatial data. In addition, open source tools such as Geoserver or MapServer can be used to publish this data on the web. In the field of cartography, the free and open source Mapnik software offers a powerful solution for custom map creation and tile generation. In addition to geomatics-specific software, more general open source solutions such as Python, R and Java can also be used to analyze and manipulate geospatial data.

In conclusion, using open source software in geomatics offers many advantages. They are flexible, scalable and benefit from an active community of developers. What’s more, they offer genuine interoperability with other software and can be used in a variety of environments, including Windows, MacOS and Linux. However, it should be remembered that the use of open source software does not mean that all software used in a geomatics project must be open source. It is common practice to integrate proprietary software into an open source environment, using open protocols and data formats to ensure greater interoperability.

In short, the open source world offers a multitude of solutions for geomatics, allowing users to access, modify and redistribute software source code according to their specific needs. This fosters freedom, innovation and collaboration within the community of open source geomatics software users and developers.