[GRASSLIST:9010] Re: ArcView vs GRASS

[Dylan Beaudette]

On Nov 11, 2005, at 10:55 AM, Paolo Cavallini wrote:

> At 19:43, venerdì 11 novembre 2005 you presumably wrote:
>> Paolo,
>>
>>    Why was ESRI indirectly at a OSS conference? Seems rather odd to 
>> me.
> strange, isn't it? in a way, this indicates that we are getting out of 
> the
> getto, maybe.
>> Anyway, comparing ArcView and GRASS is like comparing Notepad to 
>> LaTeX.
>> They're two different tools intended for different audiences and 
>> tasks.
> I (we all?) *know* this.
>>    I suggest you'll get good answers if you're more specific about 
>> what
>> comparisons you need and for what purposes.
> I know there are not much hard data on this; I am asking if there is 
> anything
> I can put together to have strong arguments, the next time I have a 
> direct
> confrontation.
> pc
> -- 
> Paolo Cavallini
> email+jabber: cavallini at faunalia.it
> www.faunalia.it
> Piazza Garibaldi 5 - 56025 Pontedera (PI), Italy   Tel: 
> (+39)348-3801953
>
>
>

One of the arguments for GRASS that I often find myself talking about 
is this:

With the ESRI products it is possible to point and click your way to a 
map or "analysis", without actually understanding what is going on. In 
GRASS this is much harder to do: using a command requires that you know 
about your inputs and outputs, and to a certain degree the _what_ the 
algorithms are doing. Much in the same way that *NIX operating systems 
require the user to be knowledgeable or at least willing to learn while 
using the system. Widows and in the same way Arc products, are the 
distillation of the computing experience. While some things may be 
simpler, the auditing of results and general understanding are 
hindered.

Paradoxically, this is also why many new users are discouraged... 
Therefore, I feel that  working examples to get people going in GRASS 
are of the utmost importance.

Cheers,

--
Dylan Beaudette
Soils and Biogeochemistry Graduate Group
University of California at Davis
530.754.7341