Paul, Fabulous advice as usual :-)
Thanks, Bradley On Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 1:47 PM, Paul Flint <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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 > > > /************************************ > Based upon email reliability concerns, > please send an acknowledgment in response to this note. > > Paul Flint > Barre Open Systems Institute > 17 Averill Street > Barre, VT > 05641 > > http://www.bosivt.org > http://www.flint.com/home > skype: flintinfotech > Work: (202) 537-0480 > Fax: (703) 852-7089 > > Consilium > gratuitum .~. > valet /V\ > quanti /( )\ > numerantur ^^-^^ > -- http://bradley-holt.blogspot.com/
