Best Open Source Genealogy Software?

An anonymous reader writes "I'm looking to build a family tree for a holiday gift. Do the Slashdotters of the world have any recommendations on open source genealogy software? I did try a 14-day free trial of Ancestry.com. What a scam! I submitted the personal information for my parents, grandparents, and me. Then, I received a pop-up telling me that if I would like to get information on my family, I would have to upgrade my subscription for $29.95 US. So, I took the chance. Turns out that the only information they had was my previous addresses for the past 20 years." The venerable GRAMPS is still actively developed, and its site lists several other possibilities, too. Any favorites, or anti-favorites, out there?

Comments

webtrees

[Anonymous Coward]

If you want it online or even locally, webtrees is the most current open package. active development team and community based forums will assist you where required. www.webtrees.net.

does everything you need and more!

Re:webtrees

[ichthius]

Disclaimer first - I am the project manager of webtrees, and was previously the project manager of PhpGedView, from which it forked at the start of 2010....

You have three real choices.

(1) a desktop application
(2) a web-based application (under your control)
(3) a web-based application (managed by someone like ancestry)

I'd be tempted to steer away from (3). Most make it very difficult to apply proper sources/citations to your research, and genealogists tend to get pretty obsessed with their sources.

I tried ancestry once, but found it very limiting. For example, it only allows you to enter "simply connected" trees, so if any of your ancestors married their cousins, you cannot link the common ancestors. It is also difficult to add sources that do not come from ancestry itself.

If you are going to publish on the web, privacy is pretty important. In some countries, privacy laws apply only to living people. In others, privacy extends for a certain number of years after death. The online services tend to operate with the privacy rules of their host country - which may be different to yours. So, check what options are available before signing up to any provider.

This leaves (1) and (2).

Whatever you do, pick an application that can read/write to the (de-facto standard) GEDCOM format. Bear in mind that many applications will either extend the specification or lose some data when saving to it, so interoperability is rarely 100%.

Web-based solutions offer the obvious advantage that the whole family can work on this together. You'll get far greater commitment from the rest of the family if they can update it diretly, rather than send updates to a central person for data entry.

Even if you use a desktop application for your main research and data entry, you'll probably still want a web-based application to publish it.

A web-based system also allows you (presumably the geek of the family) to maintain the site, perform backups, etc., while allowing your (presumably less IT literate) family members to do the fun part - researching your history.

For all its faults, ancestry.com does have a huge amount of data. So, buy your relative a subscription, and set them up an open-source, web-based system on your favourite web-hosting provider.

Geneweb

[Imabug]

I've used GeneWeb and really liked it. Written in OCaml, but appears to be dormant. Nothing much has happened with it for a few years now. Still a pretty good program though.

How about geni.com ?

[davejenkins]

Geni.com is an online service, not open source software per se, but it's free to use, useful, and there's a lot of data there already. I found my ancestors going back to the 17th century after matching up my own tree back to my grandparents. http://www.geni.com/

Re:How about geni.com ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Any site that asks for my email address right away, forget it. .

Damn straight. They should provide the service for free and there should be no quid pro quo. Who do those arrogant f*****rs think they are - asking for an email address? Do they have any idea how hard it is to get an email address in the first place?

Re:How about geni.com ?

[Kral_Blbec]

You mean like this?
https://familysearch.org/

First, try the living if possible

[novar21]

My grandma has givin me sooooo much skini on the family its not funny. Didn't cost me a dime other than my time. Trust me... they don't hold back and will give you info can not find anywhere. They are the source.. if they aren't available, talk with the gossip of the family. Each family has one. Find them, then prepare yourself for A LOT of bad news.

GEDCOM

[Okind]

For basic usage, any program that supports GEDCOM (the de facto file format all good genealogy software support) will do, and your choice should be on your personal preference. So try them out first, of find your local genealogy association and ask around. Personally, I have good experience with Gramps (you already found that one) and ProGen (a dutch commercial program). The latter not being open source, it'll probably not be interesting to you.

For more advanced usage, you should know that some programs assigns a different meaning to some standard fields, and most programs have their own way of filling in custom fields. If you find yourself using such features, please consider who you'd be sharing your GEDCOM files with, and use the same. Note though, that it'll likely not be open source.

Holiday gift?

[93 Escort Wagon]

I'm looking to build a family tree for a holiday gift.

To be presented in what year?

Re:Why is OSS A Criteria?

[gd2shoe]

PAF is obsolete, but still viable.

If research is what you need, don't overlook Family Search. It works best if you can start with someone long dead. If you want one-on-one assistance (for free), stop by an LDS Family History Center. Yeah, we're "Mormon's", but the family history advisers must not be overtly preachy (if they are, they're not following instructions). Just bring everything you've got.

Re:BYOB

[Anonymous Coward]

GEDCOM is what you're looking for there.

OT, anyone know why won't chrome paste into the slashdot textboxes?