Dear Richard,
I have encountered this phenomena before. I call it the "Inoculation
Effect". The deal is typically that there were advocates who made FOSS
work for a while, then politics (think current administration :^) caused
changes to be made and "Presto!" OS-X lab (or worse inActive Directory
maybe even Rickets er Citrix...). Anyway, start signing everything you
can find "Richard Stallman" drink tea, answer questions curtly and move
slowly towards the door...
Regards,
Flint
On Thu, 9 Oct 2008, Richard Lawrence wrote:
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:49:42 -0400
From: Richard Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: Vermont Area Group of Unix Enthusiasts <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Anyone using FOSS for scientific computing?
Hi everyone,
I have a topic to throw out for discussion, if anyone is interested:
how many of you are using FOSS for academic or scientific computing?
Have you been successful with it? Do you find yourselves fighting a
tide of money, bureaucracy, etc., or is your environment more receptive
to FOSS than perhaps the general public is?
I'm thinking of Numpy/Scipy here, Octave, R, etc. as alternatives to
things like Matlab and SPSS.
I ask because I recently moved to Philadelphia to start a job as a
programmer and research coordinator in a psychology lab. I accepted the
job largely because I thought I would be working in Python, writing FOSS
data analysis programs that would be used both in this lab and
distributed freely. As it turns out, my lab is extremely Matlab focused
(which means that any code I write can't be run by anyone who doesn't
pay the $$$$ for the proprietary Matlab license, unless I spend time
making it compatible with Octave), and the principal investigator
consistently chides me for pushing for greater Python and Octave use.
(Yesterday, he said, "Your first name is Richard...but your last name's
not Stallman, right?") He also has what I consider to be slightly
suspect ideas about what it means to be a steward of taxpayer dollars.
All of this is a little odd to me, because according to lab lore, at one
time you weren't allowed to graduate if you had never compiled a kernel.
Now, we're all on OS X.
Have others encountered this scenario? Did you have any success pushing
back? Do you have a persuasive counter-argument to the "pragmatism, not
idealism" sentiment that has apparently won out here?
Richard
Kindest Regards,
Paul Flint
(802) 479-2360
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Paul Flint
Barre Open Systems Institute
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Consilium
gratuitum .~.
valet /V\
quanti /( )\
numerantur ^^-^^
