TinyOWSModGeocacheIntegration UserNotice

This message is to inform you about some project changes being considered by the MapServer project steering committee (PSC). Specifically we are looking to expand the functionality offered by the project by integrating a couple of external projects. The projects under consideration are:

• TinyOWS - [http://tinyows.org/] for PostGIS-based WFS-T
• MapCache (currently named mod-geocache) - [http://code.google.com/p/mod-geocache/] for tile cache support

Both projects have close ties to MapServer and add important functionality.

At this point integration means merging project governance, communications (mailing list/website), change management (SVN) and issue tracking (Trac). As a MapServer user you probably won't notice much of a difference since we'd continue to use MapServer infrastructure. You will start to see questions related to these new components on the mapserver mailing lists (-users, -dev) and we hope folks will take advantage of these new features if the need exists.

For more detail on the proposed integration visit:

• [http://mapserver.org/development/rfc/ms-rfc-70.html]
• [http://mapserver.org/development/rfc/ms-rfc-71.html]

The next significant MapServer release would dubbed "MapServer Suite" and would contain all components, that is, MapServer CGI, MapServer MapScript, MapServer TinyOWS and MapServer MapCache.

We welcome any comments, questions or concerns regarding these proposed changes. The PSC is excited about the possibilities for the project and our users!

SteveBR
Chair, MapServer PS