I have a degree in GIS and use QGIS almost every day. Of course I know it’s better for many things than Google Earth (though GE is still a better viewer). But even then - it’s only better if you take the time to learn to use it.
I can teach someone to drag a kml into GE in seconds. I can’t teach them QGIS.
I use QGIS for a living. Adding layers and image services is easy for me, but not to someone who doesn’t even know what GIS is. I couldn’t teach someone how to use it in seconds like I can GE, which consists of “Open Google Earth, and click and drag the file into the window”.
And with GE, you don’t have to license the satellite imagery or teach someone how to add web-based tile services to GQIS.
They can also use the draw tool in GE and right-click the drawing and export a file I can open in QGIS or ESRI without them having to know anything about projections or datums.
They’re actually killing the PC version next year, which is actually a problem.
It’s the goto solution for sharing GIS layers for free using a simple platform. Anybody can download Google Earth Pro for free, and we can export KML/KMZ files from ESRI or QGIS that will be viewable over fairly recent satellite imagery without having to pay thousands for software and/or imagery licensing.
There’s a reason ICE conceal their faces.
They know what they’re doing is wrong and don’t want to be held accountable if their fascist rule collapses.
This is an issue I’m seeing more and more of. People are demanding that others be perfect at all times. We all fuck up and make mistakes. If we write off everyone we’ve ever disagreed with as irredeemably bad, then we’re telling people there’s no point in growing and changing.
When I was a kid in the early 90s in Texas, I thought homosexuality was immoral. I was wrong and I’ve spent the last 30 years preaching for inclusion and tolerance. And that’s the story for most people my age. In the 90s, a Democratic President banned openly gay people from being in the military.
If we want to change society, we have to invite others to our side with open arms, not condemn them.