GDAL is a library

Library (computer science)

In computer science, a library is a collection of resources used to develop software. These may include pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications....

 for reading and writing raster

Raster graphics

In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...

 geospatial data formats

GIS file formats

A GIS file format is a standard of encoding geographical information into a file. They are created mainly by government mapping agencies or by GIS software developers.Metadata often includes:...

, and is released under the permissive

Permissive free software licence

A permissive free software licence is a class of free software licence with minimal requirements about how the software can be redistributed. This is in contrast to copyleft licences, which have reciprocity / share-alike requirements. Both sets of free software licences offer the same freedoms in...

 X/MIT style free software license

MIT License

The MIT License is a free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . It is a permissive license, meaning that it permits reuse within proprietary software provided all copies of the licensed software include a copy of the MIT License terms...

 by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation

Open Source Geospatial Foundation

The Open Source Geospatial Foundation , is a non-profit non-governmental organization whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies and data. The foundation was formed in February 2006 to provide financial, organizational and legal support to...

. As a library, it presents a single abstract

Abstraction (computer science)

In computer science, abstraction is the process by which data and programs are defined with a representation similar to its pictorial meaning as rooted in the more complex realm of human life and language with their higher need of summarization and categorization , while hiding away the...

 data model

Data model

A data model in software engineering is an abstract model, that documents and organizes the business data for communication between team members and is used as a plan for developing applications, specifically how data is stored and accessed....

 to the calling application for all supported formats. It may also be built with a variety of useful command-line utilities for data translation and processing.

The related OGR library (which is part of the GDAL source tree) provides a similar capability for simple features vector

Vector graphics

Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...

 data.

GDAL was primarily developed by Frank Warmerdam

Frank Warmerdam

Frank Warmerdam is a software developer with a focus on remote sensing, geographic information system, cartography, and development of geospatial data translators. He is best known in the GIS community as the author of the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library or GDAL...

 until the release of version 1.3.2, when maintainership was officially transferred to the GDAL/OGR Project Management Committee under the Open Source Geospatial Foundation

Open Source Geospatial Foundation

The Open Source Geospatial Foundation , is a non-profit non-governmental organization whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies and data. The foundation was formed in February 2006 to provide financial, organizational and legal support to...

.

GDAL/OGR is considered a major free software

Free software

Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...

 project for it "extensive capabilities of data exchange" and also in the commercial GIS community due to its widespread use and comprehensive set of functionalities.