[GRASS-user] GIS software popularity ranking: http://gisgeography.com/mapping-out-gis-software-landscape

[Rich Shepard]

On Mon, 26 Sep 2016, Blumentrath, Stefan wrote:

> FYI, I could not resist to also commenting on the GRASS "review" here:

> Obviously, the authors of the review seem to be lost in new
> surroundings.

Stefan,

   When you realize that the majority of computer users who write articles or
reviews for the Web know only Microsoft's OSes the author's 'cons' make
perfect sense.

   Too many users know only to point-and-click, drag-and-drop, and work in a
pretty GUI. The idea of typing something on a command line is not only
foreigh, but frightening; many have never done so before. When you see
complaints such as 'the toolbars are in a different place' and 'handles
coordinate systems in different locations' it is obvious that the writer is
very limited in understanding what's important: function over form.

   I read reviews like this and know to ignore them. Those readers who accept
such reviews at face value are equally naive. The focus on the user
interface is typical of those who were taught superficial use of an
application without fully understanding how to use it to solve problems. The
analogy I use when texplaing my GIS or statistical tools to clients and
others is that one can teach someone how to use a word processor but that
does not make him a writer.

Rich