[GRASS-dev] Handling of Python scripts on MS Windows

[Martin Landa]

Hi all,

2013/10/3 Moritz Lennert <mlennert at club.worldonline.be>:
>> the question is: is anyone going to resolve this issue? Currently this
>> is a blocker for many Windows users which we can loose easily if we
>> don't provide solution soon enough.

that's the point. This issue is open for many months(!). The answer
for your question is quite predictable. The problem is that we don't
have a full-time Windows developer. Personally I was forced (by the
students or my collegues) to try to fix some of Windows bugs in the
past. If you are forced, usually you invest only a limited time to
solve the issue. Result is sometimes something like workarounds.
Better than nothing I would say!

> Users come and users go. I don't think that we have to create unsatisfactory

Huh, I hope you are kidding otherwise I do not understand. Yes, they
come and go, but we should try to convince them to use our software
and not to dissuade them from using it. Please tell me what I can tell
the students who are attending my classes (they use Windows mostly) or
to my collegue (hydrologist) who would like to use GRASS in
comparision to ArcGIS in his research grant. Yes, he is also a Windows
user. I cannot find a reasonable explanation of this situation what I
can tell them.

First of all, thanks Vaclav that he found time to take a look at this
issue. His time is limited (as for all of us), the solution is not
perfect, but it's anyway step towards. After r57911 we are in the same
situation. Python scripts called from Python code do not work again!
It's very serious issue, yes, it's a blocker.

@Glynn: please revert your revert or find a time to implement better solution.

@Moritz: you were discussing tech-previews for many times. Are you
able to imagine releasing tech-previews with this serious bug. Not me.

> hacks just to get some users now, with the risk of losing them (and others)
> later when it becomes apparent that the hack doesn't solve everything...

What means "solve everything", could you elaborate a little bit? So
it's better to have broken functionality on Windows for many months?
It will probably not change within next weeks/months. Good to know,
it's a nice policy ;-)

> I think we just have to accept that MS Windows work power is _very_ limited
> amongst us and that solutions for Windows will take time to be put in place.

Right, that's what I am speaking about.

Martin

-- 
Martin Landa <landa.martin gmail.com> * http://geo.fsv.cvut.cz/~landa