[Mapserver-west] Mostly lurking

[Jason Birch]

> If you haven't already, I suggest you add yourself to this site too:
> http://www.moximedia.com:8080/imf-ows/imf.jsp?site=ms_users
 
Unfortunately, I can't add myself to that OpenIMF site yet.  I trump Jeramie's claim as the least experienced user; my only real exposure to MapServer so far has been checking out the UMN and DM Solutions web sites a few times over the last few years, marvelling at how cool the OS GIS stuff was, and moving on.
 
I am here because I spoke briefly with Mishtu after the Refractions workshop at GeoTec.  My organisation is heavily invested in commercial GIS solutions.  However, my non-GIS personal interests swing more to the Open Source side of things, and I am trying to become as conversant as possible with the technology's capabilities so that if I come across a niche that can be filled using OS GIS, I will be able to make a good business case for it.  That's where I see this list as being extremely helpful.  Just reading your descriptions of how you are using MapServer has been very enlightening but, more importantly, knowing that there is an active support community really helps to sell any product.  
 
So far, I can see using MapServer for some web services such as WMS delivery.  I am having real difficulty though seeing it as a replacement for MapGuide on the front end.  I have not been able to find a MapServer site that demonstrate the kind of user interface that it would take to make my users happy.
 
On a personal level, I have been working with GIS since 1992.  I started out with PC Arc/Info, TerraSoft, and dBase/Foxpro, moved on to UNIX Workstation Arc/Info and Oracle, transitioned to ArcGIS, and then with a change of jobs did a sudden shift to an Autodesk / MapInfo / SQLServer environment.  The tools change, but the work stays the same.  I currently work for the City of Nanaimo on beautiful Vancouver Island, Canada.  Today I was speaking with a recent immigrant who boasts to his family back in Boston that he "lives on an Island in the Pacific".  Vancouver Island doesn't really fit with the image that first comes to mind from that quote, but it is idyllic in its own way.
 
If anyone's interested, here are the public MapGuide sites that I administer: 
http://enviro.nanaimo.ca/index.cfm?tab_ID=3&content_ID=7
http://citymap.nanaimo.ca/ (Windows/IE only, unfortunately)
 
Jason