your mail (arc vs grass)

[Jim Klein]

dear fed up with grass - 

perhaps you are underestimating the time it will take for you to 
learn arc-info.  Having tried to learn both at about the same time
it took me about six weeks and one training session to be able to import 
data from any source (including ARC), analyze that data and prepare useful
and readible maps (albeit with help from a MAC desktop publishing program.

I had spent nine months trying to do similar things with arc-info and got
fed up with its cumbersome commands.  More than that the constant updates
and maintenance fees for licenses more than make up for the tinkering 
required to keep GRASS up to date.

I am personally fed up with bureaucrats who have to have the newest
toy on the block when the one they have now works just fine.  I would
love to hear from you in six months when you are still using that 
GIS that you kept around to have a working system available.

Good luck with arc-info (you will need it)
(or at least a couple of junkets to training sessions)

Jim Klein