r.surf.contour

[Neel Smith]

I'm trying to run r.surf.contour over a large rasterized topo map to
create a DEM.

I've had to slice the area up and run r.surf.contour over little pieces
of it, then use r.patch to put them back together.

I've simultaneously started jobs running from various grass users, and have
noticed that if I start the job from the GRASS server, it runs far
faster than if I start the job from a workstation.  Ex:  serving froma
VAX 8600, a 400 * 400 pixel job takes a few hours;  on a DECstation 5000,
the same job takes serveral days!

This seems far greater than a difference in cpus could explain.  DOes
the client/server architecture of grass really impose that much of a
burden on networked workstations?  Or have I missed something?

Thanks for any advice.  I've got a whole lot more of these jobs to run,
and if anyone can suggest how to keep the running time, I'd appreciate
any advice!

Neel Smith
nsmith at polar.bowdoin.edu