GRASS history, etc.

[Bruce Byars]

Hi Malcom,

Just to clear things up, we at CAGSR have assumed GRASS responsibilities
from CERL.  Since Markus was doing great things in keeping GRASS
alive during CERL's "decommisioning" of GRASS, we thought it was best
for everyone to include as many people as possible in the future of GRASS
development.  This is much the same scheme that CERL had once envisioned
with contributors/"steering committee"/etc. working in development and
support
issues.  Please note that Markus is not the only contributor, as there are
many
out there still (at CERL, UIUC, etc.).  However, Markus does play a major
role in GRASS development and policy, since a large portion of the community

is in Europe.  In fact, outside of Baylor, he is to be considered the source
for
information and the other official site for GRASS.  Since GRASS is still
widely used, there has to be a "home", and we are it.  We invite anyone
with an interest in GRASS development to drop us a line and get invloved!
The community is growing each day (more than 1 million visitors so far this
year
to the Baylor website alone) and as far as we are concerned, the more the
merrier.

We're currrently in the process of bringing up a new webserver for GRASS
and will post a history of development on it.  In the meantime, if you have
any
more questions Malcolm, feel free to give me a call.

Take care.

Bruce


Malcolm Williamson wrote:

> Hi, all
> This discussion about licensing GRASS has reawakened some questions that
> I've had for a long time. Would someone be kind enough to explain the
> formal, if any, relationship between Baylor, Markus, and CERL? I was
> initially under the impression that the Center for Applied Geographic
> and Spatial Research had a contract with CERL to produce and release
> GRASS versions 4.2 and 5.0. I was always confused with how Markus
> Neteler fit into the "big scheme" (although I'm very glad you're
> there!!). If someone (or several someones) would like to give a brief
> history of GRASS, parts IV and V, I'd be most appreciative, and will
> pass it on to my GRASS class (yup, we still teach it here, along with
> it's commercial counterparts!).
>
> Many thanks,
>         -Malcolm
>
> Malcolm D. Williamson                       malcolm at cast.uark.edu
> Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies      Voice: 501-575-2734
> 12 Ozark Hall                                   Fax: 501-575-5218
> University of Arkansas, Fayetteville AR 72701
> http://www.cast.uark.edu/