The Mappyist Hour - Real Time with David Bitner

In this episode of The Mappiest Hour, Tee and Silas welcome David Bitner, a Minneapolis-based developer with a deep history in the open-source geospatial community. David traces his path from studying rocks and trees at the University of Minnesota to becoming a key figure in the MapServer project and eventually landing at DevSeed. The trio discusses the challenges of managing real-time data at scale, from tracking airport queues to measuring global air quality with OpenAQ. David also shares his experiences navigating the "wild west" of early GIS consulting, the evolution of database management from "it works if you don't touch it" to robust cloud infrastructure, and why sometimes the best solution is still a good old-fashioned MapServer instance behind an AWS Lambda. Tune in for a conversation that spans the gamut from skijoring with dogs to the existential dread of server maintenance, all wrapped in a healthy dose of Midwest pragmatism.