QuantumGIS and GeoServer workshops at Latinoware

First up latinoware was very well attended (you can see a slice of a group shot below).

From Latinoware 2012

While I have attended a couple of Open Source Developer conferences as a LISAsoft employee in Australia, they tend to just walk the software side of the street.

Latinoware had a great mix of hardware and software hackers. I got to see a 3D printer, with the cost brought down to around $300 to the level where it can be successful in emerging economies. I understand it was using recycled soda bottles for material.

From Latinoware 2012

Another impressive showing was a one laptop per child kitted out with a robot accessory so it could walk around. Literally "logo to go" for the educational system - combing ing the joy of learning program with the ability to stomp around.

From Latinoware 2012

Most of the presentations were packed, and were not afraid to take on deep or scary topics (ie how to build your own bootloader thanks to the google chromebook team). Here is a group with TCP stack frames on screen.

From Latinoware 2012

The workshops at Latinoware 2012 were different from what I expect at a FOSS4G event. We have been scared off running workshops concurrent with the regular program at FOSS4G (as attendees would often ditch presentations for the hands on experience). For Latinoware I understand demographics lean toward a student turn out, leaving the pay-to-play workshops with sparse attendance.

Introduction to Geoserver

I managed to sneak into the GeoServer workshop and take a couple pictures, the workshop was being run by Benicio Ribeiro and Rafael Soto.

Quantum GIS

There was also a Quantum GIS workshop hosted by Luis Lopes. If you peak in the background you can see qgiscloud.com on screen as the workshop gets underway.





It was great to see OSGeo projects represented on the ground at such a varied event.

State of GeoServer 2012

And now for the Latinoware 2012 presentation people actually came to see - the State of GeoServer 2012. Once again the content is CC by Attribution and build on earlier talks.

State of GeoServer 2012 from Jody Garnett

The talk raised a lot of questions, both directly after the talk and in the breaks between presentations. The questions all came down to catalog service web support - and what it means for GeoServer 2.3.

I also got to play the careful balancing act between representing GeoServer (as PSC) and representing the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (ie product neutral). There is still a lot of confusion around how to evaluate and select open source projects for an successful engagement.

The most appropriate course of action is to engage with the local community - a major strength of the OSGeo Chapter setup.

Once again the important status update is the release of GeoServer 2.2. This release was a long time coming and improves major headline features, and important changes under the hood.

Recent activities covered by the presentation:

• Time Boxed Release once again this a deep change that will effect the developer community, our customers and how end users of the application work with GeoServer.
• Catalog Service a very simple catalog service, used to publish the GeoServer contents out via CSW. This should allow for easy harvesting by full featured products such as GeoNetwork. The initial service is working, but I expect more funding will be required based on the enthusiasm shown online and at events like Latnioware.
• Sensor Observation Service currently under construction
• OSGeo Incubation

From Latinoware 2012

State of GeoTools 2012

Here is the State of GeoTools 2012 talk presented at Latinoware 2012. My first speaking slot was devoted to a "State of Geoserver" and "State of GeoTools status update. The slides are CC by Attribution and build on earlier talks.

State of GeoTools 2012 from Jody Garnett

The talk was well received, it is however pretty brutal to start off your conference engagement with a set of technical talks. I got the feedback that all my jokes were funny which is always nice and hopefully softened the content a bit for those present.

The big status news for GeoTools is of course the release of GeoTools 8 with all its headline features.

It is worth pointing out a few recent developments covered by the presentation:

• Process, Process, ProcessWeb Processing Service is finally attracting funding, with it comes a lot of new process ideas, implementations and directions. Hold on it is going to be a wild ride!
• Prep for Java 7 try-with-resource Update our API to mark which items are “Closable”
• FeatureCollection as a Result Set For Java 5 we needed to prevent FeatureCollection extending java.util.Collections - so that iterators could be closed.
  We are completing this work by removing the deprecated method names (add, remove, etc...)
  This will allow FeatureCollection to be a simple result set.

And the change that is likely to have the most lasting effect: switching to predictable release cycles. This is already being noticed with GeoTools 8.1 and 8.2 being released in September.

From Latinoware 2012

Latinoware 2012

I have put up a set of Latinoware 2012 Photos up (and a few more covering a trip to the Itaipu Dam).

I am so impressed with the organisation and sheer scale of Latinoware 2012. Over morning coffee I was introduced to the idea that they try and grow a little each year in order to be the biggest open source conference.

At over 4000 people they must be getting close! The organisers have pressed a legion of buses (drawn from the local tourist trade) to facilitate. There are people everywhere, and all very happy, this place is humming along!

I am scheduled for a couple of talks tomorrow afternoon on GeoServer/GeoTools, OSGeo Live DVD and OSGeo Incubation. Wish me luck.

Aside: I have been asked to encourage others to attend, apparently because the large number of beautiful women working in IT here. So while I will pass that on at face value, anything we can do to help balance out our industry is sorely needed, consider setting up a Girl Geek Coffee in your area.

Latinoware 2012

Dam Trip