Running QGIS2Web on Xubuntu: Using a 2017 Dell Inspiron 5458 to Build a Web GIS for Site Planning in Patna, Bihar, for Data Sharing and Participatory Planning

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This project documents my journey of transforming an old Dell Inspiron 5458 (2017) into a fully functional Web GIS creation system using Xubuntu, QGIS, and QGIS2Web. The published map supports a site planning project in Patna, Bihar, enabling data sharing and participatory planning through an open, browser-based platform. It highlights how accessible, low-cost, and open-source tools can empower planning and GIS workflows even on older machines. Special credit to Dr. Ujjwal Prakash Jha for guiding the entire spatial requirements based on the crucial needs of a medical facility.

    I shrank my E: drive to create 200 GB of unallocated space for installing Xubuntu. I then used Rufus to prepare a bootable USB drive and launched the Xubuntu installer (Xubuntu 22.04.5 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) from it. During installation, the unallocated space appeared separately as free space (no longer shown under E:). From this free space, I created a 60 GB root (/) partition for Xubuntu and used the remaining space for /home and swap. After this installation, the terminal in Xubuntu was used to install QGIS using sudo privileges. After the repository was added and the installation command was executed, the system automatically selected a compatible stable QGIS 3.22.4-Białowieża version for my operating system. QGIS was installed successfully, which runs smoothly on my Dell Inspiron 5458 (Signature Edition, 8 GB RAM, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7, 2017)

     Since my QGIS project and all associated layers were set to EPSG:32645 (WGS 84 / UTM Zone 45N), which is the appropriate local coordinate reference system, I used the qgis2web plugin and selected OpenLayers for exporting the project as HTML files. OpenLayers supports projected coordinate systems more reliably than Leaflet, ensuring accurate representation of geometry and spatial alignment in the published web map.