What Is QGIS? Features of Free GIS Software
What you'll learn
- The features of QGIS and what you can do with it
- What FOSS4G is
Recommended for
- Anyone who wants to know what QGIS is
- Anyone who is about to start using QGIS
Introduction
QGIS is open-source geographic information system (GIS) software, and its great appeal is that anyone can use it for free.
It runs on many platforms, so users around the world rely on it. It has become an important tool not only for government agencies and educational institutions, but also for companies and individual users. This article gives a clear introduction to the basic features of QGIS, what you can do with it, and how its user base is trending.
What is QGIS?
QGIS is one of the open-source software packages for geographic information systems (GIS). It is free to use and runs on multiple platforms such as Windows, macOS, and Linux, so government agencies, research institutions, educational institutions, companies, and individual users around the world use it widely.
QGIS is supported by an open-source community of developers and users from around the world, and development continues every day.
Through the community's work, user feedback and requests are reflected in the software, and bug fixes and new features are added regularly.
Features and what you can do with QGIS
This section introduces the features of QGIS and what you can do with it. For a detailed explanation of what you can do with QGIS, see the article below.
Free to use
QGIS is open-source software, so anyone can download and use it freely. There is no cost to adopt it, so you can get started easily.
Support for many operating systems
QGIS runs on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Intuitive, easy-to-understand interface
Some tools and Processing algorithms appear as icons, and you can choose others from easy-to-follow menus, so QGIS is designed to be easy for beginners to use.
You can also customize the layout of the window, so you can set up QGIS to suit your working style.
Multilingual support
Many users around the world have translated QGIS, so it is available in about 40 languages.
Compatibility with many data formats
QGIS supports many GIS data formats, including Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, GPX, and CSV.
So QGIS can also load data created in other GIS software.
Use in field surveys
QGIS is desktop GIS software, so you cannot easily record or edit map data on site during fieldwork. With the mobile app QField, however, you can take a map you created in QGIS straight into the field.
QField is developed as open source, and another big appeal is that anyone can use it for free. It also uses the same map display mechanism as QGIS, so it feels the same to use, and you can work smoothly on a familiar screen.
Regular version updates
QGIS is developed in the open, with safety and quality always in mind, and feedback from users and developers is reflected quickly. As a result, new features and bug fixes arrive frequently. Through regular version updates, QGIS keeps pace with technological advances and continues to meet the diverse needs of its users.
This site also summarizes information about each version update. See the link below.
High customizability
Because QGIS is open source, users can write their own scripts in Python and develop plugins. Users can add their own functions, which makes QGIS highly customizable and extensible.
Plugin development is active. As of September 2024, more than 1,300 plugins are available, and anyone can use them freely.
Trends in the number of QGIS users
QGIS is used around the world, and its number of users grows every year. The following two sources of data show its popularity in particular.
QGIS Dashboard
The dashboard of QGIS usage statistics shows how many times QGIS was launched in each country over the past 30 days. It shows at a glance that users around the world use QGIS every day.
Having QGIS users all over the world promotes international knowledge sharing.
There are also online forums and conferences run by users around the world, and technical knowledge is shared actively. This global user community proposes new features and gives feedback for bug fixes, so QGIS keeps evolving.
Google Trends
Google Trends shows search trends on Google. There, the popularity of QGIS in Japan has been rising over the past 10 years.
QGIS is open-source GIS software, and because it is free to use, it works especially well with the internet. Thanks to its online community activity and abundant documentation, users can easily find information and the barrier to adoption is low. As a result, search interest in “QGIS” on Google Trends is also rising.
FOSS4G and QGIS
FOSS4G (= Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial, pronounced “foss-for-gee”) is the name for open-source geographic information system (GIS) software and tools, and for the communities that use them. QGIS is a leading FOSS4G software, and FOSS4G also includes GRASS GIS, PostGIS, and GDAL.
FOSS4G is also the name of conferences held in Japan and abroad.
These conferences are a place where GIS users and developers from around the world gather, with the aim of sharing the latest technologies and tools and promoting collaboration. Many of the technical talks and workshops are about QGIS, which shows that QGIS receives a great deal of attention at FOSS4G.
Conclusion
QGIS is GIS software with a wealth of functionality and great flexibility, including the fact that anyone can use it freely, its support for many platforms, and its multilingual support.
Supported by its user community, QGIS will keep evolving and should become a useful tool in many more settings.
QGIS LAB is a comprehensive information hub for QGIS, the open-source GIS software. Under the concept of “Geospatial for Greater Good,” we share the knowledge and skills to open up the world through location data.
