On Dec 3, 2009, at 8:06 AM, [email protected] wrote:
Date: Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:06:07 +0100
From: Vincent Bain <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [GRASS-user] grass70 and display monitor
To: Glynn Clements <[email protected]>
Cc: GRASS user list <[email protected]>
Message-ID: <1259852767.6278.6.ca...@vincent-desktop>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Thanks for your reply,
May I be considered bothersome, but was it really impossible to
achieve
(like in grass65) the development of a wxGUI (which I really enjoy
too)
while keeping the complete set of "historical" command line
environment ?
1) xmons don't work at all under windows
2) you can work completely via the command line and create all the
scripts you want. In fact, scripting works better under GRASS 7 than
prior versions because of a more consistent command interface
3) if you want interactive, we've spent hundreds of hours and 10's K
of code developing an up-to-date interactive environment instead of
one based on 1980's technology
Not sure why we should try to recreate a retro 1980's kind of limited
interaction too. All coding takes time and effort to develop and
maintain. Currently there are only 2 people willing to do GUI coding,
even though it is a code base many orders of magnitude greater than
any module.
I disagree about the majority of GRASS users wanting only to use it
only in customized script-based or command based environments. I've
had some version of the following conversation too many times to
count. [Researcher/student/professional after one of my talks or
demonstrations] "Hey that was pretty cool. You know, I tried GRASS
some years ago, but ummm... I gave up because I couldn't really figure
out how to get it to do things." [Me] "Have you looked at it recently?
Here, check it out" [Them] "Wow. That looks a lot different from what
I saw. I think that would work for my [fill in the blank] project. How
do I get it?"
Part of the reason there are a larger number of command-line/scripting
users with GRASS is that 1) it used to run only on Linux or Unix and
people using that OS (especially in the past) were self-selected
command-line, compiling, coding users, and 2) anyone who didn't want
to run GRASS that way tried it and gave up. If we want to keep the
user base confined to that audience, then we need to get rid of the
GUI altogether and focus on enhancing commands. If we want to have a
large and diverse user base that can make use of GRASS for a wide
variety of geospatial tasks and for teaching, then we need a highly
interactive, up-to-date GUI as well as maintaining command-line
scripting use. I think that there is a need for a high-end geospatial
data management, analysis, and visualization program like GRASS.
However, most of these potential users will not be people like me (and
much of the old user base) who use commands, write code, and customize
GRASS into scripts.
Cheers
Michael
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