[GRASS-dev] Making start of GRASS GIS easier for newcomers

[Nikos Alexandris]

On 29.01.2015 18:49, Moritz Lennert wrote:

>> ### Mapset
>>
>> "A Mapset contains GIS data. Every Location automatically has one 
>> Mapset
>> named PERMANENT that also contains projection information for the 
>> Location."
>
> Maybe add a little about use of mapsets:
>
> "A Mapset is a subdirectory of a location and contains GIS data.
> Mapsets are used to organise the data into coherent subsets (by
> project, user, or other systems). Every Location automatically has 
> one
> Mapset named PERMANENT that also contains projection information for
> the Location."

Proposing slightly different wording:

"A Mapset is a subdirectory inside a Location and contains geospatial 
data. Mapsets are useful in organising the data into coherent subsets 
(by project, user, or other thematic units)."


> If we don't have enough space, I'd just drop the last sentence about
> the PERMANENT mapset.
>
> [Looking at this I actually makes me think about the real need for
> 'PERMANENT'. Couldn't the location-relevant files just be stored in
> (possible hidden files directly in the location directory ? Or do we
> want to keep the notion of permanent data vs modifiable data for
> educational purpose ? Then again, I don't really want to open
> Pandora's box at this stage of the release process... ;-) ]

Using the PERMANENT Mapset as a safety-pool, for all of the "raw" data, 
isn't a bad idea as well. Copy then elsewhere and play along.  I do it 
most of the times.  It saves time to re-import stuff, for example, if a 
map is irreversibly modified.  Which is a matter of time to happen (and 
not a question of "will it happen?").  At the end of a project's 
life-cycle, stuff can be cleaned.

Nikos