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Epi Info™ Blog -
Epi Info™ version 7
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The CDC has posted the project to rewrite the well known Epi Info™ suite of tools into CodePlex under the Open Source Apache 2.0 license. The Open Source strategy for the next generation of the Epi Info™ suite of tools is similar to that of the well known MySQL. Just as MySQL has a free “Community Edition” and an “Enterprise Edition”, the new Epi Info™ will have the “Open Community Edition” and a special hardened “CDC Edition”. The new "CDC Edition" of Epi Info™ suite of tools will include the rewrite of Epi Map, a GIS tool based on the ESRI® ArcGIS Engine, and will meet the infrastructure security requirements of State and Federal governments. Once completed, the "CDC Edition" will be available for free download at http://www.cdc.gov/epiinfo.
The Epi Info™ community of users and developers will have access to the entire codebase of the rewrite project on CodePlex including the Epi Map code with the exclusion of the ESRI® ArcGIS Engine which must be licensed separately through ESRI®. The Epi Info™ “Open Community Edition” will be developed and supported solely by the Open Source community. The CDC Epi Info™ integration team will iteratively integrate the Open Source community’s contributions to the Epi Info™ suite of tools and process them through the rigorous Certification and Accreditation and Quality Assurance process to obtain an authority to operate on the Federal and State government’s infrastructure. Additionally, the CDC Epi Info™ integration team will add specific features to the "CDC Edition" to ensure data standardization specific to the CDC Enterprise Architecture such as integration with PHIN VADs, PHINMS, and the Federated Grid. Once these additional requirements are met, the "CDC Edition" of Epi Info™ will be freely downloadable in a finished product just as it is today. The "CDC Edition" will continue to be supported by the Epi Info™ helpdesk.
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To answer you question in short, YES! Please!
One of the teams biggest challenges is the Ubuntu compatibility. We've only recently make Epi Info 7 Ubuntu compatible and quite frankly are a bit overwhlemed. With the soon to be release Windows 7 we now have 4 platforms and 4 data repositories in 16 combinations to test. XP Pro sp3, Vista (4 versions), Windows 7, and Ubuntu. We could use some help. Each platform needs testing along with the MySQL, MS SQL, Access, and XML for storing collected data and the forms metadata. I suppose we should put a grid up on the codeplex site so folks know what combinations are being tested already. I'll see what I can do in the next few days to communicate on codeplex the testing requirements.
Thanks for your comment.
Tony