The source code for QGIS version 4.2—named “Belém do Pará”—has been officially released; this marks the first time in the project’s history that a version has honored a Brazilian city.
This choice was no coincidence: on December 7, 2024, Belém hosted QGIS LATAM 2024, the 2nd QGIS User Meeting for Latin America, held at the facilities of INPE’s Amazon Space Coordination unit.
The event was part of the official program for FOSS4G 2024—the world’s largest conference on free and open-source geospatial technologies—which took place in Brazil for the first time, from December 1 to 8, 2024.
With over 150 participants, sponsorship from companies such as OpenGIS, GeoOne, and ClickGeo, and presentations by representatives from QGIS Chile, QGIS Mexico, QGIS Peru, and the Brazilian community, QGIS LATAM 2024 cemented Belém’s status as a strategic hub for geotechnologies in Latin America.
It was during a post-event meeting that Marco Bernasocchi, president of QGIS.ORG, announced that a future version of the software would bear the city’s name—a symbolic acknowledgment of the role played by Brazil and the Amazon in the expansion of open-source geospatial software.
What changes in version 4.2
According to the project’s official changelog, version 4.2 is the first full release of the 4.x cycle, building upon the migration to Qt6 that began with the 4.0 series. Key new features include:
- Significant advances in 3D rendering, including new physically-based rendering (PBR) materials, bloom effects, MSAA support, and more realistic sky gradients;
- Improvements to point cloud processing, with support for the new .vpz format and per-layer shading;
- New features in print layouts, with graphics linked directly to vector layer symbology;
- Support for topocentric CRS and the SensorThings 2.0 specification;
- Dozens of bug fixes and performance optimizations reported by the global developer community.
The complete source code is already available in the project’s official repository.
This launch is generating a lot of excitement, and it is natural for information to spread quickly—so a few points deserve clarification:
🔹 Version 4.2.0 is a Regular Release (Latest Release – LR) with a four-month cycle, and it replaces version 4.0.3 as the latest stable release;
🔹 The Long Term Release (LTR) remains version 3.44, which is receiving a point release this Friday;
🔹 So far, only the source code has been released. Binaries and installers usually start becoming available the following Monday—or, in the case of the OSGeo4W installer, typically late Friday afternoon or on Saturday.
🔹 QGIS 4.2.4 “Belém do Pará” LTR is scheduled to be released in October.
Brazil and the role of the QGISBrasil community
This recognition does not come out of nowhere. Brazil has historically ranked among the countries that download and use QGIS the most worldwide, and this significance is rooted in a community that has been organized for over a decade.
The QGISBrasil community, active since 2010, has been essential on three key fronts:
- Translation of the interface and documentation into Portuguese, a project led by contributors such as Arthur Nanni, Felipe Sodré Barros, Leônidas Descovi Filho, Marcelo Soares Souza, Narcélio de Sá Pereira Filho, and Sidney Schaberle Goveia;
- Production of tutorials, short courses, and training materials, expanding access to the software for students, researchers, and professionals across the country;
- Organization of and support for events ranging from local to international scales—as demonstrated by hosting FOSS4G 2024 in Belém.
This collective dedication goes back a long way: the community mailing list, which had only 14 registered members in 2011, grew significantly over the following decade, reflecting the organic engagement of a community that remains active to this day across multiple channels—email groups, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and discussion forums—bringing together thousands of users, ranging from beginners to geoprocessing experts.
Global recognition: QGIS as a Digital Public Good
Alongside this historic moment for the Brazilian community, QGIS also received international recognition: it was officially designated a Digital Public Good by the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA), a multi-stakeholder initiative dedicated to promoting open digital solutions for global challenges such as climate change, public health, and equitable access to technology.
For those unfamiliar with it, QGIS is a free, open-source, and user-friendly Geographic Information System (GIS) used to manipulate spatial data, generate maps, and perform geospatial analysis across virtually every field of knowledge—from agriculture and public health to environmental monitoring of the Amazon.
How to join this community
The strength of QGIS has always been its community, and there are various ways to contribute:
📚 Sharing knowledge on the email list (qgisbrasil@googlegroups.com) or in the Facebook group;
✍️ Creating tutorials and educational materials;
🌐 Participating in the interface and documentation translation team;
🎤 Promoting courses and lectures on the software;
💰 Financially supporting the project.
Further details on how to participate are available directly on the community’s official website.
⚠️ Attention
The website https://qgis.com.br is not the official channel of the Brazilian open community. The correct address for the community is https://qgisbrasil.org/, and the project’s international website is https://qgis.org/. Please be careful to avoid being directed to unofficial channels.
📎 Useful links:
🔗 QGISBrasil Community: https://qgisbrasil.org/
🔗 International project: https://qgis.org/
🔗 Version 4.2 source code: official QGIS GitHub repository
🔗 How to participate: https://qgisbrasil.org/#como-participar
Source QGISBrasil Community