20 replies to this topic

[ELeFevre]

Has anyone used GRASS GIS before? My first impression is that it's probably difficult to use. Here's the link

What's the scoop?

[Hans van der Maarel]

It seems the only way to run it on a Windows computer is through Cygwin (a sort of Unix emulator). I've struggled with that in the past and wasn't exactly pleased with the results. Another option would be to set up a Linux box.

Last year I was speaking to some German developers who had come up with a "Grass Live" cd-rom. That seemed to be an interesting way to go, but I didn't pursue it any further. I'll see if I can track it down.

In terms of functionality it seems to be pretty complete and given it's an Open Source thing, that's great value for money.

[Martin Gamache]

http://www.mountainc...s/dunlavey1.pdf
http://www.openosx.c...rass/index.html

[Jason]

If you are on a Mac I like this build of GRASS. It uses the native Mac aqua GUI.
I have only dabbled with GRASS. I just can't pony up the big $$ for the only instructional book out there. It defeats the whole "free software" idea.

[ELeFevre]

What's the reasoning behind developing for Mac OS but not Windows XP or the like? Erin

[Martin Gamache]

Yeah...who needs MACs? Who's this Linux person anyways?

[Hans van der Maarel]

Funny enough, the exact opposite happens with Manifold. Windows and only Windows. Officially, only IIS with ASP is supported as webserver (though it's possible to use Apache and PHP if you know what you're doing), you need to have all kinds of Microsoft add-ons installed (DAO, Jet, service packs) and so on...

Can be kinda tricky, especially if I want something that will just run...

[ELeFevre]

Who's this Linux person anyways?

Linux was the kid in the Peanuts gang who played the toy piano and carried his blanket everywhere.

[Martin Gamache]

Manifold is definitely religiously obsessed with Windows, gives some evidence for the rumours that it may be a Microsoft spin-off.

I fully understand Start-up Software Companies wanting to limit development to one platform. The cost and the implications for a small compnay have to be fairly high. This topic has been debated alot on the Manifold discussion boards and the argument always comes down to it being cheaper to buy a cheap Windows box to run an inexpensive but powerful piece of Windows software (Manifold) and pass the cost to the consumer rather than Manifold the company having to spend alot of money developing a MAC or Linux version. Money that is better spent making Manifold more powerful. I expect the same argument would apply for GRASS i.e. running a cheap box with Linux O/S to run GRASS if you really needed it.

Having access to both Mac and PC it usually does not affect me too much, although I usually prefer to stick with a PC workflow for GIS/RS work and would likely not use a piece of GIS software that was MAC/Linux only for workflow reasons.... (i.e. GRASS)unless it did something really unique. MACDEM was a good example up until a couple years ago. What I really appreciate is vendors such as Corel that supply you with both a MAC and a PC version of their software for the same price. I think that is very forward thinking. Unfortunately I dont make much use of Corel products except for Painter and Bryce occasionaly.

mg

[Nick Springer]

Manifold is definitely religiously obsessed with Windows, gives some evidence for the rumours that it may be a Microsoft spin-off.

I can definitely put that rumor to rest. It's not an MS spinoff. Trust me.

One thing that keeps me from going back to Macs from Windows, is the lack of good GIS tools on the Mac. Unless I am missing something big, GRASS is really all there is and as has been noted here, it's mostly aimed at raster data, it's confusing to the average user, and I'm sure it doesn;t play well with Adobe products in terms of exporting.

[Hans van der Maarel]

There's TNTmips for Mac, which is pretty decent (even though I've only really used it on Windows). Apart from that, I don't think there's anything for Mac in terms of GIS.

[Nick Springer]

Hmmm... *scratches head... wonders if there is a business opportunity*

[Hans van der Maarel]

Although supposedly (I've never tried this myself though) you could use VirtualPC to run Windows software on a Mac. Not sure what that would do for the performance though.

[frax]

On a mac -- wouldn't you, in theory, be able to run all kinds of unix/linux software using the unix backend in OS X? This means, of course, that you need to be comfortable with fiddling with the command-line etc.

I think there might also be some (simple) Java GIS programs, but I think they are more for viewing (possibly to export to eps?).

See FreeGIS.org for more free software

which reminds me -- in theory, the ESRI unix stuff should run on OS X as well (i.e. ArcGIS Server, ArcIMS, ArcSDE and ArcInfo Workstation)

[Rick Dey]

I run an occasional program in VPC on my Macs. Due to speed limitations its more for cases where I need something quick, its not too intense and I don't have to go over to the PC (20 feet away). I can run something and quickly drag it into the Mac desktop without having to log into the Mac from the PC to transfer files. Speed is a major consideration, I'm running a dual 2.5 GHz watercooled G-5 and I wouldn't want to attempt to run ArcView in VPC, it would be far to frustrating.

You are right though that the UNIX stuff should be able to run from the terminal, as much of a geek as I may be accused of being though, I've got too many other things to do with my time than dig into that can of worms.

As far as a viewing program, ArcExplorer is a great way to view shapefiles on the Mac. For working with DWG files there's also eDrawings and Microspot DWG Viewer.