[GRASS5] Proposed process for GRASS reorganization (please read)

[B. Byars]

Hi Roger and everyone,

First, I totally trust Markus' hands on 5.x.  He's the team leader and will
always be.  The 5.x buck stops with him.  I'm reading over the proposal as
well.  I've been putting pen to paper on many different aspects and will share
a sort of "dream list" soon. Roger hits the nail on the head with the old code
and the idea of a major revision.

I propose this: We will go ahead and start a GRASS 6 forum.  We'll get that setup

in short order and start the process on a server here.  I agree it's a large
undertaking
and should be the next MAJOR revision.  Plus, there are many good things
that Markus and crew have planned and in the works for 5.1.  I say we let
those things run full circle.  I know it's a big temptation to run headlong into
a new major revision, but we need to be realistic and look farther down the
road than the next one or two years.  Stability is the key.  We need time for the

5.x to saturate the user community out there.  That will build a good soild user
base from which to build.  Markus is on track to stabilize 5.0 and move to
advancing
5.1 and other 5.x versions should they be applicable.  That will take some time.
But during that time, we are doing the planning and developing for the next MAJOR

revision... GRASS 6.  For the  meantime, there's still plenty of work to be done
with
5.x.  Changing directions in midstream on 5.x would be counterproductive.

As always, I am available for email, snail mail, or direct calls so fire away.

Take care all,

Bruce

--
Bruce Byars
Hydrologist and Senior Research Scientist
Center for Applied Geographic and Spatial Research
Baylor University
P.O. Box 97351
Waco, Texas 76798-7351
254-710-6814


----
"Roger S. Miller" wrote:

> Strobe and GRASS developers,
>
> I've read the proposal.  Three or four times now.
>
> First and most generally, the current effort in GRASS 5.0 appears focused
> on getting the existing capabilities working correctly on a fairly
> complete list of platforms.  A lot of the source code is 10 years old or
> older and it's quite an effort.  This is a user-oriented effort aimed at
> completing previously stated goals and getting the capabilities working
> completely and for more users.
>
> The proposal to reorganize GRASS under a completely different "paradigm"
> might be suitable for a later major revision of GRASS, but does not (to me
> at least) appear appropriate to Grass 5.  Whether or not that
> reorganization is a good goal for later revisions lies I think in Bruce
> Byars' hands.
>
> Less generally, I'm not very keen on generalized models or on OOP.
>
> OOP is a reasonable way to organize a large programming effort in a
> corporate or academic environment with a top-down organization.  Currently
> GRASS development seems to be based more on consensus-building, which I
> think is typical and possibly necessary in volunteer efforts.  So I'm not
> so sure that OOP is good for our setting.
>
> Maximum operational efficiency comes from code that is organized to
> complete a specific task.  Where I've seen code developed on generalized
> schemes the results have been much less efficient.
>
> Certainly if the developers were to consider such a sweeping change in
> the structure of GRASS they would need to review some more specific
> suggestions about how the current code would be merged into the new
> structure.
>
> Finally and most specifically, your discussion omitted the GRASS "sites"
> map type.  You used the term "site" for other purposes in describing the
> program structure, so your proposal at the very least needs to be reworded
> to account for the third map type.
>
> Roger Miller
> Lee Wilson and Associates
>
> ----------------------------------------
> If you want to unsubscribe from GRASS Development Team mailing list write to:
> minordomo at geog.uni-hannover.de with
> subject 'unsubscribe grass5'


---------------------------------------- 
If you want to unsubscribe from GRASS Development Team mailing list write to:
minordomo at geog.uni-hannover.de with
subject 'unsubscribe grass5'