The Open Planning Project (TOPP) is a nonprofit organization that advocates the use of free and open source software in the public sector, and for more than ten years, TOPP's OpenGeo initiative has worked on creating an open environment for sharing geospatial data. Its principal product, GeoServer, is a free Java-based Geographic Information server built on open standards which lets users share and edit public geographic data.
Following the GeoServer 2.0.1 update that was released last week, OpenGeo today released OpenGeo Suite Enterprise Edition 1.0, the complete package of open source mapping software that OpenGeo will professionally support.
The suite includes GeoServer, the group's geospatial data and map server, GeoWebCache (map accelerator), OpenLayers/GeoExt (UI Libraries), GeoExplorer (browser-based map composer and publisher), Styler (map editor), Recipe Book (code samples), and Dashboard (admin system for using all the components).
"Up to this point, we have concentrated on clients already adept at downloading, integrating, and using the pieces of the Suite," OpenGeo's Paul Ramsey wrote today. "With version 1.0, anybody can start publishing their data and building applications right out of the box."
"As an organization, we want to democratize mapping," Ramsey continued. "That means offering tools available under non-discriminatory legal terms, like open source. It also means lowering barriers so that more people can use, build, and grow these tools...Version 1.0 is the first step in a long journey, but we know where we are going. Every day we ask ourselves: can we make our product easier to use? can we make it easier to learn? can we make it easier to try?"
OpenGeo is offering a 30-day free trial of OpenGeo Suite Enterprise Edition for organizations looking to try out the the fully-supported Web mapping software. As always, OpenGeo Suite Community Edition is free to download and use.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
