I usually build static topographic maps, which are mostly printed. Im often using OSM and rasterfiles (mainly different DEMs). The areas Im maping seldom exceeds 20.000 km². Im using exclusively open source software like QGIS, SAGA and GRASS.

I know the problems with shapefiles, but they are easy to handle. And Im not very familiar with postgis or spaciallite. I tried postgis, but got a lot of problems handling it, spaciallite seem to me more easy.

What do you think: Should I stay with shapefiles or switch over to databases like spaciallite or postgis. Whats the advantages and disadvantages in my case?