At both work and the university I attend we use FOSS everyday. Almost every lab involves learning how to do something in Windows and then the exact same setup but in Linux. Almost every system I used at work was a Linux box as well.
-Josh Smith On Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 2:38 PM, Balu Raman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > My experience is little bit outdated ( 6 years to be specific) > I used to work for a Hedge Fund and all models are/were in R and > Excel. Today, I still use R for my personal investments. > > Octave is 99.999% compatible with Matlab, except for some graphics > stuff, which are not difficult to adapt to octave. > > I can't help you with politics/stupidity, I only hope the current > economic conditions creates an increased attention to FOSS. > > balu raman, morrisville, vt > > On 10/9/08, Mike Raley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Richard, >> >> While I am not in scientific computing anymore, while working at the CFA >> (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/) I can say our shop was probably 75%+ FOSS >> (Note: I'm counting solaris in this, even tho it's debatable) After I left, >> from what I understand it's gone even more (eg, solaris replaced w/ fedora, >> or other linux distros) although, just about any laptop which is purchased >> is a Mac. In every research institution I have ever worked at/with, FOSS >> has played a major role. However, most researchers I know will use the best >> tool for the job. If it happens to be Matlab, it's Matlab, if it happens to >> be Perl, it's Perl. They don't care, as long as it get's the job done, and >> doesn't break the bank on their research grants. >> >> However, there is a difference in mindset I've found between the "hard" and >> "soft" sciences that tends to lead one towards FOSS and one towards >> proprietary applications, but YMMV. >> >> Good luck w/ Matlab! I'm not sorry to know there's a 99% chance I'll never >> have to use it again! >> >> Mike >> >> >> >> >> --- On Thu, 10/9/08, Richard Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> From: Richard Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>> Subject: Anyone using FOSS for scientific computing? >>> To: [email protected] >>> Date: Thursday, October 9, 2008, 12:49 PM >>> 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 >> >> >> >> >
