I'm pretty much a beginner when it comes to GIS, but I think I understand the basics - it doesn't seem to hard. But: All these acronyms and different libraries, GEOS, GDAL, PROJ, PCL, Shaply, OpenGEO, OGR, OGC, OWS and what not, each seemingly depending on any number of others, is slightly overwhelming me.
Here's what I would like to do:
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