Wrong - the auto-update feature is new to 7.x, so actual sites running 6.x (or earlier) doesn't benefit from it. Also, the new feature will only install and update modules and themes, not 'core', so I'm guessing updating core from 7.0 to 7.1 is probably going to require about as many manipulation steps as you need to go from 6.14 to 6.15. I don't have a lot of experience, but I would not say it's "extremely easy": the stable 6.x version requires you to do a lot of file and configuration manipulation just to go from 6.14 to 6.15 (if you follow all the recommended steps, which I did for my test site recently). It's not hard, it's just not automated.

You are right that the most difficult upgrade path is for major revisions, e.g. 5.x to 6.x, but I personally have no experience with this (yet!).

I find strange that the article talks about the upgrade path, but doesn't mention that Drupal 7 includes a modules and themes auto-update feature: "Update Manager: Building on Drupal 6's Update module, which keeps site administrators informed when new module and theme releases are available, the new Update Manager module can also install and upgrade modules and themes."

There's also an interesting link not included to TFS named Top Ten Changes That Make Drupal 7 the Best Version.

I have an interest in Drupal, since I'll be moving Slashgeo.org from Slashcode to Drupal in the coming weeks (here's why).

Quantum GIS might be intereting to you: qgis.org and so may gvSIG. If you need raw power, look at GRASS GIS (the interface isn't up to par if you ask me and you can access many GRASS features directly from QGIS). (if you need a spatial database, there's nothing better than PostGIS)

The OSGeo.org (the open source geospatial foundation) is a great resource in that regards. Depending on your needs (geospatial is vast, see my sig), you may "need" ArcGIS from ESRI - it's commercial, it's expensive and it crashes regularly, but it does things no other GIS can easily do.

First, a quick reaction to your post. Radarsat-1 and 2 data, in regards to DEMs, is far from being comparable. The SRTM mission was dual-antenna interferometry, with Radarsat (or Envisat), you must use two images at different times. DEMs from Radarsat can be good and better than SRTM, but it's pretty expensive and there are alternatives (in Canada: CDED1 data is free and in many cases much more reliable than Radarsat data).

If you ever want to use SRTM-DEM data, check the CSI-CGIAR version 4 version. It's the best out there, it's a *major* improvement over the original and previous versions. If you're in hydrography, look at HydroSHEDS SRTM-DEM data.

This year, the advent of the ASTER-GDEM (global DEM) diminished the interest of SRTM-DEM. ASTER-GDEM is still "research-grade", but offers higher spatial resolution, and most important, cover much more land than SRTM (northerm Canada and URSS).

On top of my mind, don't forget SRTM-DEM is available at a higher spatial resolution over the USA than elsewhere (1 arc-second vs 3). The 1-arc-second for the whole world is suppose to become available some time in the future, but that has not happened yet. Also, the X-band (the actual SRTM-DEM comes from the C-band data IIRC) is in the hands of the Germans, but to my knowledge, no public DEMs has come out of it yet (even after all those years). Still relying on my memory (I can be mistaken, see next paragraph), the TerraSAR-X in orbit should be able to give us an even better near global DEM than what's available at the moment.

Sorry for the lack of links. I'm still in my holiday break and you can simply google your way in. Or search SRTM on the site in my sig! have fun -

I must agree. After a few months with OmniFocus, it really does help me reduce stress and stay focused (well, more focused anyway ;-).

I wrote a personal review last summer: Getting Things Done App Reviews: OmniFocus, Things, Life Balance, ThinkingRock and Chandler (no ads link). Chandler being open source.

It seems no one yet mentioned Wiktionary.org. Over 1 536 000 + in French, a similar number in English. While there's obvious room for improvement, it's generally usable and often useful.

So here's my question, why does Google dives into a new initiative instead of jumping on existing trains? I guess the answers has something to do with control. Google wants to keep the control (which is understandable and not necessarily a bad thing). This Wiktionary-Google Dictionary is not the only example, Google Map Maker and OpenStreetMap.org is another one (both crowdsourcing map data, and yes, OSM was there much before).

Not surprising, since it's called the World Meteorological Organization.

Ok... thanks, I got it this time :-)