I usually build static topographic maps, which are mostly printed. I'm often using OSM and rasterfiles (mainly different DEMs). The areas I'm mapping seldom exceeds 20.000 km². I'm 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 SpatiaLite. I tried postgis, but got a lot of problems handling it, SpatiaLite seem to me more easy.

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