Press release draft (was: [GRASS5] GRASS 5.0.0 to be released now)

[Roger Bivand]

On Tue, 3 Sep 2002, Helena wrote:

> I slightly modified (and fixed spelling) in what I have to say.
> I have also added Baylor University, and ibiblio but feel free to skip
> it if you think
> that it should not be there (given the fact that the Baylor site may be
> outdated).
> I used the latest Mike's version as it reads better.
> 

Having followed the versions so far, I think that this one is the one to
go with. I wonder whether "Grass 5 is a free software, the sources of
which ..." could be: "Grass 5 is free software, released under GNU General
Public License, the sources of which ...", as on the website first
paragraph? Perhaps also instead of: "Grass 5 also runs under Microsoft
Windows (R) ... " - "Grass 5 also runs under Microsoft Windows (R) using
the cygwin tools, ..." to avoid looking like a native port. Isn't OSX also 
just Darwin? The rationale for the qualification would be to avoid 
disappointing people who might expect more than is on offer.

Roger


> Helena
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> First Stable Release - GRASS 5 Free Geographic Information System.
> 
> Today the GRASS Development team led by Markus Neteler
> released the first stable version (5.0.0) of the well known GRASS
> Geographic Information System.
> 
> Grass 5 is a free software, the sources of which can be found on
> grass.itc.it
> and several mirrors along with further information.
> The mirror sites include the Baylor University site (grass.baylor.edu)
> and grass.ibiblio.org in the USA.
> In addition to traditional Unix platforms such as Linux, Solaris and
> IRIX, 
> Grass 5 also runs under Microsoft Windows (R) and Apple Macintosh OS-X
> (R).
> 
> This new version is the first major change in GRASS functionality since
> GRASS 4 was released several years ago.  Notable improvements include
> support for floating point and null values.  Users can opt to use a new
> windowing interface based on Tcl/Tk on those platforms supporting X
> Windows.
> 
> A successful series of beta and pre-releases of GRASS 5 over the last
> two
> years has shown the software sufficiently stable to justify a wider
> audience
> release in the view of developers and users alike.
> 
> "This release was long in coming, because the GRASS source code base
> is huge." explains the team coordinator Markus Neteler. "In the last few
> years GRASS also completely changed the development model adopting an
> open
> volunteer driven process and fully going the Free Software way."
> 
> "This is a milestone release." reveals Professor Helena Mitasova of
> North Carolina State University. "Markus Neteler has successfully
> coordinated many developers to undertake this huge endeavor."
> Professor Mitasova views GRASS 5.0 as a unique 
> geospatial research environment which encourages experiments and
> innovation.
> 
> 
> Mike Thomas wrote:
> > 
> > Some suggested mods to the press release:
> > 
> > ==============================================
> > Trento, 4.9.2002
> > DRAFT _NOT_ _FOR_ _DISTRIBUTION_
> > 
> > First Stable Release - GRASS 5 Free Geographic Information System.
> > 
> > Today the GRASS Development team led by Markus Neteler
> > released the first stable version (5.0.0) of the well known GRASS
> > Geographic Information System.
> > 
> > Grass 5 is free software, the sources of which can be found on grass.itc.it
> > and several mirrors along with further information.   In addition to
> > traditional Unix platforms such as Linux, Solaris and IRIX, Grass 5 also
> > runs under Microsoft Windows (R) and Apple Macintosh OS-X (R).
> > 
> > This new version is the first major change in GRASS functionality since
> > GRASS 4 was released several years ago.  Notable improvements include
> > support for floating point and null values.  Users can opt to use a new
> > windowing interface based on Tcl/Tk on those platforms supporting X Windows.
> > 
> > A successful series of beta and pre-releases of GRASS 5 over the last two
> > years has shown the software sufficiently stable to justify a wider audience
> > release in the view of developers and users alike.
> > 
> > "This release was long in coming, because the GRASS source code base
> > is huge." explains the team coordinator Markus Neteler. "In the last few
> > years GRASS also completely changed the development model adopting an open
> > volunteer driven process and fully going the Free Software way."
> > 
> > "This is a milestone release." reveals Professor Helena Mitasova from the
> > North Carolina State University. "Markus Neteler has successfully
> > coordinated many developers to undertake this huge endevour." Professor
> > Mitasova views the new GRASS 5.0 as a geospatial research environment which
> > provides solid core functionality and encourages experiments and innovation.
> > 
> > Contact information:
> > 
> > Europe:
> >  Markus Neteler <neteler at itc.it>
> >  (Requests in German, English)
> >  ...
> > 
> > North America:
> >  Helena Mitasova
> >  ...
> > 
> > ==============================================
> > 
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Bernhard Reiter" <bernhard at intevation.de>
> > To: "grass5 developers list" <grass5 at grass.itc.it>
> > Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 6:20 AM
> > Subject: Press release draft (was: [GRASS5] GRASS 5.0.0 to be released now)
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > grass5 mailing list
> > grass5 at grass.itc.it
> > http://grass.itc.it/mailman/listinfo/grass5
> 
> _______________________________________________
> grass5 mailing list
> grass5 at grass.itc.it
> http://grass.itc.it/mailman/listinfo/grass5
> 

-- 
Roger Bivand
Economic Geography Section, Department of Economics, Norwegian School of
Economics and Business Administration, Breiviksveien 40, N-5045 Bergen,
Norway. voice: +47 55 95 93 55; fax +47 55 95 93 93
e-mail: Roger.Bivand at nhh.no
and: Department of Geography and Regional Development, University of
Gdansk, al. Mar. J. Pilsudskiego 46, PL-81 378 Gdynia, Poland.