[GRASS-dev] Re: [GRASS GIS] #499: fresh windows startup not very friendly

[GRASS GIS]

#499: fresh windows startup not very friendly
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  Reporter:  hamish        |       Owner:  grass-dev at lists.osgeo.org
      Type:  enhancement   |      Status:  new                      
  Priority:  minor         |   Milestone:  6.4.0                    
 Component:  default       |     Version:  6.4.0 RCs                
Resolution:                |    Keywords:  wingrass startup         
  Platform:  MSWindows XP  |         Cpu:  x86-32                   
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Comment (by hamish):

 Maris:
 > > > Probably it would be better to remove completely presetting
 > > > location etc. in init scripts
 Hamish:
 > > no way, that's super useful. just deal with the lack of
 > > .grassrc6 gracefully, that's all.
 Maris:
 > Can You, please, explain usefullines of .grassrc6 file with
 > location <UNKNOWN> and mapset <UNKNOWN>?

 I thought you meant to remove saving the last mapset etc in .grassrcX.
 nevermind. None the less, having <UNKNOWN> is a clear indicator of what is
 missing. More so than just a missing entry; it helps with debugging.


 > Would r35991 make things better?

 yes, it is nice, thank you.


 > Still it may be a good idea to set GISDBASE for first run to
 > user home dir on windows. Still I have no idea how to do that.

 me neither but a web search suggests that putting %HOMEPATH% into init.bat
 instead of %CD% might be the way. If doing that, probably sync init.sh to
 use $HOME instead of $PWD.


 > And will it work safe with spaces in path?

 no idea.

 > Do we have windows gurus here? Hamish?

 not me.

 > Not RTFMing is not a major GRASS issue.

 ... grass has 500+ FMs to read, and for many users they are in a foreign
 language. Launching the program should not require hours of study. A smart
 user should be able to figure out how to render a map  in <10 minutes. If
 they can't see that tangible feedback many will just give up and walk
 away.


 > It's PEBKAC.

 what I am saying is that unintuitive behaviour is a mistake by the
 developers, not the users.


 Hamish

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/ticket/499#comment:5>
GRASS GIS <http://grass.osgeo.org>