NO DEAD LAWNS

[Jim Ludwig]

Good.  Whew.  GRASS is clearly not dying.  Thanks for the responses.

  jim

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The Question:
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>> Jim Ludwig (ludwig at hydro2.ce.washington.edu) writes on 13 Jun 94:
>> >I haven't been able to follow the email too closely over the past
>> >three or so months, but from the tidbits I have picked up, I get the
>> >im*pres*sion that the GRASS project is being abandoned.


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The Responses:
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>> what tidbits?
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>> Jim, the only way GRASS is going to abandoned soon is if the person
>> with the lame mailer sending those zip-code messages doesn't pull the
>> plug soon!
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>> While things may be changing within the GRASS community, GRASS itself
>> is neither dying or even ill.
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>> i read your recent posting to grass-u, in which you ask for comment
>> on your sense that grass is being abandonned.
>> A few months back, somebody posted a note to grass-u requesting info
>> on further plans for Xgrass;  kurt buehler of CERL, who coordinated
>> the original Xgrass release, responded that CERL had no current
>> funding for further Xgrass development.  I think many readers
>> misinterpreted his comments on Xgrass (the X GUI interface sitting
>> on top of grass), and mistakenly assumed he was speaking of GRASS
>> development.  A slew of reader comments followed.
>> Coincidentally, Marji Larson, the former head of the Office of GRASS
>> Integration (OGI) at CERL, recently left CERL to begin a family.
>> However, the timing of her leaving in combination with the above
>> grass-u postings has left folks with the feelings you voice.
>> 
>> However, GRASS is still being developed.  GRASS 5.0 is scheduled
>> for release in 1995.  5.0 release planning is now underway;
>> already-planned enhancements include:
>> 
>>   Floating Point
>>   Enhanced cartographic output
>>   New image analysis tools
>>   New SQL tools
>>   Hydro. modeling and surface interpolation tools
>>   etc., etc.
>> 
>> In addition to this, a Tcl-interface to GRASS 4.1 has been written
>> by a Canadian firm and is being distributed on the net
>> (part of the reason for no further plans for further development
>> by CERL for X-grass GUI in its current incarnation).
>> 
>> Sorry for the confusion.  I think many feel similarly confused.