[GRASS5] Applicant for developing

[Radim Blazek]

On Monday 28 July 2003 19:38, Thierry Laronde wrote:
> Please don't take anything as an "attack" ---since I know how poorly
> rewarding the work for open source/free software might be, with people
> always critizing.

Attacks are welcome. You must expect counter-attack, but what I see
below is not realy attack, you have to learn more about GRASS to find 
our real weaknesses.

> My point of view is probably limited, indeed perhaps narrow, but I
> prefer a clean solution to a "popular" one.

Do you prefer clean solution as programmer only or also as user?
It is nice to have clean solution, but if you cannot work with 
dirty data all others are producing? I don't want to make 
GRASS "example reference GIS application following GIS theory of '80s",
(even if it probably looks like that), it should be also possible to 
use it for real work.

> My definition of "open" is
> also narrow: what must be open is the door to let me escape with my
> data. If I have means to import a standard format and to export to a
> standard format without loosing the added value I have worked on, for me
> the software is correct 

Currently the standard de facto is shapefile (very similar to SFS)
and it is impossible for example, to import overlapping areas from 
shapefile. Topological format is good only for areas in 2D,
once you have more dimensions (z, time) you are lost. 
We have to prove to model overlapping areas in topological
format (at least for limited number of overlapping areas) 
or to add a new type for polygon to GRASS format.


Radim