Demise of GRASS

[Gilles Clement]

Bonjour Gerald,


In article <9405040145.AA01396 at charon.er.usgs.gov> you write:

|>Given the last few notes about the funding status of GRASS, I believe
|>the only remaining question is: where do we send the flowers?  Unless a
|>package is growing, and people are actively feeding it with new ideas,
|>methods and refining the old ones, it becomes senile and fades into
|>oblivion.  Efforts to simply maintain it are nothing more than
|>attaching IV's and a respirator---continuing the vital signs of
|>something that will soon become brain-dead.
|>
|>This is unfortunate because GRASS is one of the few, if not only,
|>public domain GIS systems and thus provided a service for those lacking
|>deep pockets.  By being open software, it also allow others to
|>contribute procedures and methods more easily than allowed by
|>proprietary systems and thus afforded a research environment for
|>developing GIS tools.
|>
|>I am sure that some readers will claim I am too hasty to bury GRASS
|>and should wait until the body is cold.  But my conclusions on GRASS's
|>status are meant to either shock those who do not see the significance
|>of recent discussions or warn potential new users away from getting
|>involved with a dying system.  A third alternative is to get some
|>group interested in picking up where CERL has left off; but I
|>do not feel that is likely.
|>

Usually I don't reply to negative messages but this time I have to.
I absolutely don't agree with you. I think that the kind of message you
are sending is what may kill GRASS.

Please don't destroy our efforts by sending these useless negative
messages. I really hope that your intention was to wake up everyone. If it
is so, thank you. If you are not interested in GRASS, unsubscribe from
the user's list and buy a commercial GIS.

I think that people should stop complaining and start WORKING.

My company is investing a lot of time, energy and money to improve GRASS. 
We are currently working on many enhancements including some GUI 
work and some Database work. Most of it will be contributed. If we can
do it, many others can.

We are also installing GRASS in a rapidly growing number of Fortune 500 
companies which are using it for real-life applications.

GRASS is not dying, it is finally coming to life.

I would really like to have comments from the Open GRASS Foundation on the
subject. Anyone agrees with me ? Let me know. 


Amities sinceres a tous ceux qui 
travaillent a l'amelioration de GRASS !

Gilles Clement
President Directeur-General
Logiciels et Applications Scientifiques (LAS) Inc.
Montreal, Canada