Mapping Hacks

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Chapter 6, Mapping on Your Desktop

#77 Become a GRASS Ninja

HACK

The Path to Ninjahood

The path to becoming a true ninja of any kind is fraught with danger and

pitfalls. Following that path demands flexibility, ingenuity, and clarity of

mind. When it comes to mastering GRASS, one must always bear in mind

the Unix tools philosophy: the idea that an operating system, or a GIS, is

best made up of a myriad of small, interconnectable tools, each of which

should do one thing very well. GRASS’s integration with the Unix shell envi-

ronment—and all of the tools that come with it—means that, in the hands

of a capable ninja, GRASS is the hacker’s GIS, and easily the equal of any

fancy, flashy, graphical GIS environment you could care to stack it up

against. Remember the example of the ninja, and you too will in short order

be using GRASS to make neat work of your cartographic and geographic

problems.