The GeoServer Project calls itself "the open Internet gateway for geographic data". It also calls itself "a full transactional Java (J2EE) implementation of the OpenGIS Consortium's Web Feature Server specification, with an integrated WMS. It is free software, available under the GPL 2.0 license." Here's more detail from the FAQ:
High quality information about public spaces is just as much a public good as the public spaces themselves. Quality of life in public places - both built and natural - is largely determined by how well we, as a society, process and interpret the signals that this information sends us. By definition, data about human interaction with the environment has a geographic component; for this reason, at the GeoServer project, we are particularly interested in effectively sharing geographic data. In general, this public geographic data is now stored and maintained in such a way that it is available to the public only at a relatively high cost of acquisition and integration. Perhaps even worse, this is also true for inter- and intra-agency data sharing. Anyone who has ever had the need to use public geographic data is well aware that this is a non-trivial process. Furthermore, the public sector has yet to embrace a concept of a distributed and consistent stewardship of public geographic data....Here at the GeoServer project, we don't believe in simply harassing the public sector to provide more open and seamless access to public information; overworked public servants get griped at enough from the public as it is. Instead, we offer the GeoServer project as a solution to them and others who would like to open access to geographic data resources of all kinds. It is our hope that this free, standards compliant server will allow for a better flow of geographic information by lowering the barriers to data providers who might not otherwise be inclined to serve their data.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
