Open-Source and History
Reflections on open-source and its impact on historical research
My name is Niklas Alt, I am a trained historian with expertise in the field of digital humanities. Most notably in the field of spatial humanities. I started out in 2014 at the University of Trier. Since May 2020 I am employed at the Hessische Institut für Landesgeschichte in Marburg. I am involved with the German OSGeo chapter (FOSSGIS e.V.) and highly interested in the use and promotion of the OSGeo software stack. Although this blog will feature a lot of my professional work all opinions are my own.
Cadastral Map from the city of Dieburg, Hessen. Screenshot from the application Urkataster+, CC0 1.0
My Work
After switching my Operating System to GNU/Linux during my exchange year in Bordeaux (2008) I dived into the world of programming and database design, always with the intent of applying these technologies to historical research.
Languages
Across my work I have worked mostly with Python, Type-/Javascript, sometimes R
Projects
During my career I had the opportunity to develop modern web-based applications for historical maps, most recently the applications Urkataster+ (cadastral maps) and Topographical Maps
Software
This blog will feature a lot of projects from the OSGeo cosomos: QGIS, PostGIS, OpenLayers, Mapserver, GeoServer, GRASS GIS et.al.), also some Angular
Areas of Interest
This site features the following areas of interest.
Geospatial Technologies for Historical Maps
Applications of open geospatial software for historical maps
Open Data
Available Open-Data products I found
History of Open-Source
Eager to learn about the history of the Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) Movement
“History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are ever exactly alike, because the conditions from which they spring are never identical”
Marc Bloch
Historian
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