130 replies to this topic

[Andrew]

According to their website:
Get more for your money. Don't waste money on old-fashioned, overpriced, unreliable GIS products in a tough economy.

I guess their costumers were led to Free and Open Source GIS (QGIS, gvSIG, uDIG, GRASS...just to name a few)....they should have been a bit more careful in what they were suggesting their customers!

ESRI take note. But there is one problem with those products you just mentioned I don't like the fact that I have to remove those products manually & then install the updates after. I prefer an automated remove of the previous version & install of the new version.

In regards to those products listed above some of them are made available through the OSGeo4W installer which I find has made upgrading quite simple. I use QGIS through this installer and the option to upgrade, roll back or remove is quite good I think.

It sucks that Manifold has stuffed around so long, but it looks like people are exploring alternative solutions which I think can be beneficial to all........in the long run. Manifold at one stage was on my list of alternatives to ArcMap but due to this scenario has been wiped clear off the page.

[rudy]

Yes Maniforld is cheap/affordable/inexpensive whatever adjective you'd like to use but, as in so many things, you get what you pay for . . . bad customer service and long-delayed updates (3 years and counting between updates??). Not that the software is useless - it's not. It's pretty decent, actually. Just don't expect too much more.

[Dale A]

Well,

I wondered where the regulars from the georeference forums where discussing 9. There is enough info here to take some heart in the current situation.

dale

[Dan Borman]

Well,

I wondered where the regulars from the georeference forums where discussing 9. There is enough info here to take some heart in the current situation.

dale

True, but sad to see the current customer base slowly eroding and the number of threads consistently declining.

[mdsumner]

The polygonware download is exactly the same file as the 32-bit download for 8.0.24 (SHA-1 checksums).

That seems strange to me, given the 64-bit tag on the site, unless it's just a test stub site for future use and the details aren't important yet. Anyway, I'm keen for a beer in Hong Kong some time soon.

[Dale A]

The polygonware download is exactly the same file as the 32-bit download for 8.0.24 (SHA-1 checksums).

That seems strange to me, given the 64-bit tag on the site, unless it's just a test stub site for future use and the details aren't important yet. Anyway, I'm keen for a beer in Hong Kong some time soon.

This is turning into a plot for a film, Mike, quite the GIS mystery. I imagine that by now Dimitri is fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin, and happily holding forth in his usual style on some forum or other in China!

[Dan Borman]

The polygonware download is exactly the same file as the 32-bit download for 8.0.24 (SHA-1 checksums).

That seems strange to me, given the 64-bit tag on the site, unless it's just a test stub site for future use and the details aren't important yet. Anyway, I'm keen for a beer in Hong Kong some time soon.

Another crushing blow to my optimism.

[Dale A]

The polygonware download is exactly the same file as the 32-bit download for 8.0.24 (SHA-1 checksums).

That seems strange to me, given the 64-bit tag on the site, unless it's just a test stub site for future use and the details aren't important yet. Anyway, I'm keen for a beer in Hong Kong some time soon.

Another crushing blow to my optimism.

You are not the only one Dan. We went so far as spec up a machine or two to capitalise on the known features of nine, those very machines will be due for replacement in months. We are still using eight, as it is by far and away still best GIS for price.

From a business reputation point of view, posting expected release dates on the georeference forums, and then not making comment when those dates pass by a matter of many months, is not good.

[lovelace]

As a long term user of Manifold GIS I have been concerned about the future of my favourite GIS work horse for some time. Following some strange postings on the georeference.org forum in the last day or so, the Manifold site along with its forum is now unavailable. Simultaneously unavailable are the Hong Kong based Manifold radiangis and polygonware sites which purported to offer manifold 9. Since there was no advance warning about the closure of these sites this is not a good omen. I hope this is just a temporary glitch, service update or, conceivably, a precursor to the launch of the now mythical Manifold 9.
Does anyone have any insights into the current situation with Manifold and, if the worst were to happen (or has happened) what alternatives to Manifold are there in terms of price and functions?
I wonder who posted the comment dated 15th June 2011 at the end of this thread:
http://freejamesri.w...-where-are-you/

[mika]

gereference.org and manifold.net happened to be down for a while a couple of times before. It doesn't look good, though I think they would spread the info that manifold is out of the business. I did some shopping in their online store a week ago so I think this is just a temporary problem. Still patiently waiting for v9 after London user meeting 3 years ago ;-)

[lovelace]

gereference.org and manifold.net happened to be down for a while a couple of times before. It doesn't look good, though I think they would spread the info that manifold is out of the business. I did some shopping in their online store a week ago so I think this is just a temporary problem. Still patiently waiting for v9 after London user meeting 3 years ago ;-)

Phew! the sites are indeed back again (including the enigmatic polygonware.com). Minor correction: the London conference was 4 years ago. How much longer will Manifold 9 remain mythical? And if it manifests itself will its price reflect that indicated for polygonware?

[Jimbo]

It's been awhile so now I ask where is Manifold 10? For that matter is Manifold still in business? Or should I go o a limb & ask is there a major company such as Google ready to buy Manifold as their own personnel GIS? That would be cool to if Manifold became Google Maps mainstream GIS software. So I'm getting to the point of wondering if there is a way that better managers could buy Manifold out.

[mika]

Minor correction: the London conference was 4 years ago.

It was the beginning of 2k8 if I remember well. A long time anyway.

[Sab]

Does anyone have any insights into the current situation with Manifold and, if the worst were to happen (or has happened) what alternatives to Manifold are there in terms of price and functions?

http://qgis.org/
http://www.qgis.org/wiki/Download

[BCowper]

I wonder who posted the comment dated 15th June 2011 at the end of this thread:
http://freejamesri.w...-where-are-you/

Don't worry about that comment it appeared not long after my last post on my blog where I was poking fun at James Fee's new love in with MapInfo. Think I upset one of James' followers.