[gnuastro-commits] master 25d46694 1/2: Book: edited section on Gnuastro 1.0

[Mohammad Akhlaghi]

branch: master
commit 25d46694f2455656f36cb2c2b02cf2890340e490
Author: Mohammad Akhlaghi <mohammad@akhlaghi.org>
Commit: Mohammad Akhlaghi <mohammad@akhlaghi.org>

    Book: edited section on Gnuastro 1.0
    
    Until now, this section had not been edited from the first time I wrote it
    almost 9 years ago! At that time, Maneage wasn't yet created and the
    description was not too clear (especially since Maneage is now a different
    software package).
    
    With this commit, the text in that section has been edited to be more clear
    as to the goal of Gnuastro 1.0. The vision has not changed from before,
    just the way to say it has become more precise/clear.
---
 doc/gnuastro.texi | 21 +++++----------------
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/gnuastro.texi b/doc/gnuastro.texi
index 11d8e8e8..e12382c9 100644
--- a/doc/gnuastro.texi
+++ b/doc/gnuastro.texi
@@ -1485,23 +1485,12 @@ Therefore, there is no limit on the number of minor 
releases and the difference
 @node GNU Astronomy Utilities 1.0,  , Version numbering, Version numbering
 @subsection GNU Astronomy Utilities 1.0
 @cindex Gnuastro major version number
-Currently (prior to Gnuastro 1.0), the aim of Gnuastro is to have a complete 
system for data manipulation and analysis at least similar to 
IRAF@footnote{@url{http://iraf.noao.edu/}}.
-So an astronomer can take all the standard data analysis steps (starting from 
raw data to the final reduced product and standard post-reduction tools) with 
the various programs in Gnuastro.
-
-@cindex Shell script
-The maintainers of each camera or detector on a telescope can provide a 
completely transparent shell script or Makefile to the observer for data 
analysis.
-This script can set configuration files for all the required programs to work 
with that particular camera.
-The script can then run the proper programs in the proper sequence.
-The user/observer can easily follow the standard shell script to understand 
(and modify) each step and the parameters used easily.
-Bash (or other modern GNU/Linux shell scripts) is powerful and made for this 
gluing job.
-This will simultaneously improve performance and transparency.
-Shell scripting (or Makefiles) are also basic constructs that are easy to 
learn and readily available as part of the Unix-like operating systems.
-If there is no program to do a desired step, Gnuastro's libraries can be used 
to build specific programs.
-
-The main factor is that all observatories or projects can freely contribute to 
Gnuastro and all simultaneously benefit from it (since it does not belong to 
any particular one of them), much like how for-profit organizations (for 
example, RedHat, or Intel and many others) are major contributors to free and 
open source software for their shared benefit.
-Gnuastro's copyright has been fully awarded to GNU, so it does not belong to 
any particular astronomer or astronomical facility or project.
-
+Like all software, version 1.0 is a unique milestone: a point where the 
developers feel it is complete to a minimal level.
+In Gnuastro, the goal to achieve for version 1.0 is to have all the necessary 
tools for optical imaging data reduction: starting from raw images of 
individual exposures to the final deep image ready for high-level science.
 
+While various software did already exist and were commonly used when Gnuastro 
was first released in 2016.
+The existing software are mosly written without following any robust, or even 
common, coding and usage standards or up-to-date and well-maintained 
documentation.
+This makes it very hard to reduce astronomical data without learning those 
software's peculiarities through trial and error.