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airgis · Mar 18, 2004, 01:28 PM

Anyone using GIS software on their mac either in OS 9, OS X, or emulated? like to get some feed back on your experiences with it. Apple has an area on their site for GIS stuff but it is reeally a weak attempt to cover all areas of markets.

http://www.apple.com/scitech/physicalscience/geology/

Any thoughts welcome. Thanks.

TimmyDee51 · Mar 18, 2004, 08:40 PM

I learned on ArcView 3.2a and have poked around in 8. I think 8 is ok, but as far as I could tell it provided a few new features but for the most part added GUI wrappers in the app that used to be separate. I can get work done with ArcView but it's a pain in the ass to try to do anything new on.

It's funny I ran across this thread as I'm downloading the new GRASS binaries right now. I've always wanted to try it out because of it's low cost and the fact that it works on a Mac. I figure it would be a good selling point sometime to go into a lab and say "I can save you over $1000 because I can use GRASS." Before I use it (slow DL), how does GRASS compare to ArcView?

Sarc · Apr 10, 2004, 05:29 PM

Originally posted by TimmyDee51:
Before I use it (slow DL), how does GRASS compare to ArcView?

I'm looking for the exact same answer ... anyone ?

spiky_dog · Apr 10, 2004, 06:31 PM

i used to use arcview on windows 3.1 (unknown version, it was a long time ago). i didn't even know that products were available for os x, go figure.

Boochie · Apr 10, 2004, 07:26 PM

Another tool to add to your list is openmap (openmap.bbn.com). Free open source Java code, works fine on OS X.

I've been using ESRI's stuff as well as openmap lately. They're really two different beasts. What are you trying to do with it?

ratlater · Apr 12, 2004, 03:01 PM

We use arcview 8.x at the university of washington. I've been meaning to check out GRASS for a while though. I'd love an OS X compatible GIS software package.

-matt

ratlater · Apr 12, 2004, 03:23 PM

I was digging around for GRASS info and came across this site:

http://wwwamb.bologna.enea.it/forgrass/

It looks like a very promising pre-built GRASS for OS X.

-matt

voyageur · Apr 13, 2004, 06:30 AM

There was a company in the Netherlands that was developing a GIS for OS X about a year or more ago. I can't remember the name, but they sounded quite serious about it. I wondered if anything has become of it.

TimmyDee51 · Apr 14, 2004, 08:38 AM

I'd be really interested in whatever that company from the Netherlands has to offer. I've used ArcView a lot and thought that it was a difficult program �� until I used GRASS. I think one word sums it up: obtuse. The interface is terrible and from what I've heard it has no true application runtime, meaning no undos or any of those benefits. I guess it's a collection of commands and utilities held together by a CLI or a GUI, depending on your preferences. And it doesn't sound like the people who make/maintain GRASS are looking to apply a true application model any time soon. (In addition to no undos, etc., this hurts the projects GUI portability.) I may be mistaken on all this, but this is more or less what I gleaned from the few Mac GRASS mailing lists out there.

I have yet to go through the tutorial, but I think there's a steep learning curve given the poking around I've done to this point. I do plan to stick to it, though, as I'd rather do my GIS work on a Mac than a PC. This whole power of UNIX thing is really hitting me hard this year, and I'm liking it. I can't imagine what I'll be able to do with GIS once I've got a handle on GRASS