The Manitoba UNIX User Group (MUUG) will be holding its next monthly meeting on Tuesday, September 11. The meeting topic for this month is as follows:

A Survey of Open Source Geospatial Software

This presentation will briefly describe what open source software is and how it is licensed along with some examples of widely used open-source software. What to look for as a user of open-source software will also be presented. Then the field of open-source geospatial software will be described from the organization coordinating the development to the types of open source geospatial software such as map servers, database management systems and mapping clients. If time permits then the presentation will conclude with demonstrations of some open-source geospatial software.

Bob Bruce, P.Eng., Geomatics Support Engineer, Lands and Mapping Branch of Manitoba Conservation, will be our speaker for this presentation. Bob specializes in software applications for Geomatics, in particular Property Mapping Applications. Bob is a registered Professional Engineer in Manitoba, and a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Manitoba (APEGM) Professional Development Committee. Bob also does web-based PHP programming and database design in his spare time. Recently he has developed a mapping interface for the Murals of Winnipeg website, where Winnipeg's murals can be viewed using a map interface.

The group holds its general meetings at 7:30pm on the second Tuesday of every month from September to June. (There are no meetings in July and August.) Meetings are open to the general public; you don't have to be a MUUG member to attend.

********************************************************************** Please note our meeting location: The IBM offices, at 400 Ellice Ave. (between Edmonton and Kennedy). When you arrive, you will have to sign in at the reception desk, and then wait for someone to take you (in groups) to the meeting room. Please try to arrive by about 7:15pm, so the meeting can start promptly at 7:30pm. Don't be late, or you may not get in. (But don't come too early either, since security may not be there to let you in before 7:15 or so.) Non-members may be required to show photo ID at the security desk.

Limited parking is available for free on the street, either on Ellice Ave. or on some of the intersecting streets. Indoor parking is also available nearby, at Portage Place, for $3.00 for the evening. Bicycle parking is available in a bike rack under video surveillance located behind the building on Webb Place. **********************************************************************

For more information about MUUG, and its monthly meetings, check out their Web server:

http://www.muug.mb.ca/