![]() However, due to the less stringent way it handles projections, map resolution issues, and geographic regions, I still recommend GRASS for the heavy-lifting. Note that you can now access some of the GRASS libraries from within QGIS, as well as growing host of plugins, all of which increase the computational power that QGIS can unleash. Great for web mapping applications and making finished cartographic products. QGIS - A less powerful, but very functional GIS with a large user-base.Please see my page on GRASS GIS for more information about archaeology-specifc tools that I’ve developed for GRASS. It works a bit differently than other GIS systems, so it may take some getting used to. This is the GIS I use every day, and I highly recommend that you put in the effort to learn it. Rapid development, excellent community, and some of the most cutting-edge geospatial analysis tools available. I recommend it for doing “heavy lifting” GIS work and scientific geo-spatial analysis. GRASS - In my opinion, GRASS is the most powerful, fully-functional FOSS GIS suite.While these may be good options for you, I’ve chosen not to include them here (with the single exception of PAST - see “Scientific Computing/Statistics” below). There are indeed some good free but closed source tools for some of the categories listed below. Finally, I want to emphasize that this list is for FOSS options only. I like having more than one option for each kind of software, but do not want the list to become too unwieldy. Do note, however, that I want to keep this a curated list in the sense that I’d like to be able to either personally vouch for each piece of software, or at least know that it is a good, widely used, and accepted tool. Please provide examples of how your suggestion could be used in an academic context. Please e-mail me or leave a comment below if you have a piece of FOSS software you think should be on this list or to report broken links. I plan to maintain and update this list over time. Mac users may prefer the main Ubuntu distro, which has a desktop interface that will be more familiar to them, albeit which is also larger and more system-intensive to run. I personally use and recommend Xubuntu, which is very lightweight, and which has a desktop interface that will be comfortable for old school Windows users. Now, anyone can do it! Have a look at for some of the more popular flavors of Linux. ![]() Gone are the days where you needed a degree in Computer Science to install and use Linux. However, since all varieties of Linux are also FOSS projects themselves, I highly recommend that you use a Linux OS. It’s important to remember, however, that many pieces of Windows software will run on Linux under the WINE Windows compatibility layer, and a lot of Linux software can be run inside Windows or Mac in a virtual machine or compatibility layer like MinGW. There are a couple of pieces of nice software that are for one or two platforms only, and these are noted. The great majority of these software tools are available on all three major OS platforms: Linux, MacOS, and MS Windows. Also recommended is an article by Benjamin Ducke, Natives of a connected world: free and open source software in archaeology and our recent article in the Society for American Archaeology’s newsletter: Open Science in Archaeology. Read more about Open Source and the FOSS movement at the websites of the Open Source Initiative and the Free Software Foundation. Not only that, but because the source code is always made available, you, as a scientist, can confirm that the software is actually doing what it purports to do, which is something you cannot do with any closed source software, free or paid-for. This means that you can contribute to fixing bugs, asking for features to be added, beta testing, styling, or coding, and so you can help make the software look and work the way you want it too. Because FOSS projects are really community projects, it means that you can get involved if you want to. They are usually very passionate about their projects and they use the software themselves (often in their “day job”). FOSS software is usually (but not always) developed by a community of programmers who do it because they love it and want to contribute to the greater good. ![]() What is “FOSS,” and what does it stand for? “FOSS” stands for “Free and Open Source Software.” It is important to note that this different from “Software You Don’t Pay For” in an important way: FOSS software is not only “free” in a monetary sense, but it is also “free” in the sense that you or anyone are “free” to use it in any way that you want, with only a very few restrictions (typically only that you credit where you got it from). Software Development and Scientific Computing.Isaac’s List of FOSS tools for academics…
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