Friday, July 9, 2010
OpenLayers, Google Maps and versions
The current 2.9 OpenLayers release is not compatible with Google Maps v3. This issue is being worked on and there are patches for v3 compatibility. The details are at http://trac.openlayers.org/ticket/2493. v3 compatibility is slated for the OpenLayers 2.10 (which is the next release). It appears OpenLayers releases new versions roughly once a year. Since 2.9 was released in April 2010, we can't expect to receive the 2.10 release this summer. (You can follow the 2.10 release at http://trac.openlayers.org/wiki/Release/2.10.) Google Maps v2 has been deprecated. It may be available for only three more years. For OpenGeoPortal we can use Google Maps v3 with the already nearly complete v3 patches to 2.9. Or we can use Google Maps v2 with the standard 2.9 OpenLayers release. Then in 2011 or 2012 or so we can upgrade to 2.10 and v3.
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I attended a meeting last night where Chris Schmidt, one of the original OpenLayers developers, discussed the roadmap for the OpenLayers project. Version 3 is currently in the works. Chris expects that it will be released by spring of 2011, possibly earlier, depending on what work gets done at FOSS4G. Some goals he mentioned: snappier interface, support for mobile browsers, support for gestural interfaces (possibly abstracting mouse events). Backwards compatibility may be sacrificed for performance/functionality. He also mentioned that it is a good time to get involved with developing OpenLayers and having a say in the feature-set for v3. 2.11 is likely the last of the 2.x versions.
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