A Frenchman, and maps

Franck Martin is a Frenchman based in the South Pacific. (You might have noticed his sense of humour on the trip to Angkor Wat.) As a Wikipedia contributor, he's described as someone "checking mainly the pages of the Pacific Islands and updating when neccessary. Promotion of wikipedia in Pacific Islands." But what's more interesting is his Tikimaps work.

Mapserver, says Franck, is a tool, for "bringing data to all stakeholders via Internet and Opensource Technology". It promises the tools for e-government, good governance, transparency, sustainable development, asset management, disaster management and security.... provided we have the political will for that.

To see what's possible, visit some of these sites from the distant (from us!) South Pacific islands of Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati. Franck sees many advantages in using Free and Open Source software. These include sustainability, licenses (Internet licences are expensives), software support, no "black box" phenomenon (where we don't understand the technology we use). It also allows you to rely on standards and support many file formats (not vendor dependent). It is reliable. And secure too, provided the administrator cares for it.

For more links on what uses Tikiwiki can be put to take a look at the Tikiwiki Community Portal. Uses include uses in educational context, using the mobility features of WAP browsing or for use with a PDA, and, of course, Franck's interest of maps.