mod_tile, consisting of libapache2-mod-tile and renderd, to instruct Mapnik to generate raster tile images and deliver them via a web server has reached version 0.6 through a broad and constructive collaboration among Free and Open Source Software contributors. And the installation packages have recently become part of Debian and Ubuntu.

OpenStreetMap.org and many other web map tile servers are using mod_tile with Mapnik to generate and render raster tile images and with Apache2 to make them availabe serving on a webserver. For example for providing a slippy map on the web.

mod_tile has been been actively implemented between 2008 and 2014 by a core group of contributors. The last release was nine years ago when I assumed responsibility for maintenance, at the same there were also many good code suggestions waiting in the pipeline as pull requests on Github.

In November 2020, we released version 0.5 by gathering everything that was just there and applying only the most urgent. This allowed us to take a good first cut at the status quo of the software. Together and with the support of the Debian GIS Team we wrapped them up as Debian packages and made them available in the official repositories. Starting with the release of Ubuntu 21.04 (hirsute) and the brand new stable release of Debian 11 (bullseye) the software can be conveniently installed with:

$ apt install libapache2-mod-tile renderd

By today, we are able to release a new version 0.6 with code collaboration by nine individuals and we

• applied important bug fixes
• added new metrics endpoint
• improved logging system
• introduced consistent code format and checks

You may review the full changelog for more detailed information.

In a bit less than one year we were able to reduce the number of 31 open pull requests to under 10 and applied a good amount of additional bug fixes, code improvements, documentation and general clean-up. The number of open issues is down to under 40 from over 80.

I really appreciate being able to work with great contributors and breathe life into this software together. It is great to see how Free and Open Source Software projects can be developed, almost abandoned, but revived and continued at any time. It is not uncommon for power users of older proprietary software to face the challenge that the software is no longer being developed because the company may have closed down, but it still needs to be kept in an old environment to keep it alive, even though (especially if it has been compiled) there is no option for a future. Free and open source software can always live on.