Re: Which version of Octave?

[Joe Koski]

on 3/23/04 3:41 PM, Henry F. Mollet at address@hidden wrote:

> Hi Joe,
> So let me bring this back to octave on Mac. Installation of Octave on Mac is
> apparently much more difficult than it should be unless you're a Unix guru.
> If I upgrade to Panther, I'd rather not read a bash manual. Should Mac not
> mean easy installation of Octave? Something corresponding to a binary .exe
> as is available for Windows? Why do we need Fink or DarwinPorts to be able
> to install Octave? As much as I try, I just don't understand nor need this
> complication regarding the installation or upgrading of octave on a Mac.
> Henry
> 
Henry, I certainly empathize. I spent the better part of the month of
December fighting with UNIX make files for octave and octave-forge in a
futile attempt to install octave. I finally capitulated and installed
earlier versions via Fink. I could write a book, but I don't think anyone
would want to read it. Part of that effort was just to teach myself more
about UNIX.

As I see it there are several contributing reasons to our problems. First,
UNIX is still relatively new to the Mac, and Mac users are still a minority
within the UNIX community. This leads to "critical mass" problems. How many
Mac octave users are there? A dozen? A hundred? There simply are not enough
Mac users (yet?) to to justify a simple .dmg type installation of octave and
octave-forge. Also, this is basically Linux software, and we're fortunate
that we can port it at all.

Gaurav Khanna is close to solving the Mac octave installation problem at

 http://hpc.sourceforge.net/

Once you understand his approach, it's a 10 minute job to install octave and
octave-forge from his binaries. I may opt for his approach if he posts a
recent enough version to handle my multi-dimensional matrix problems. That
leaves me with the installation of gnuplot, aquaterm, and maybe some other
GNU/sourceforge oriented dependencies. I have successfully built gnuplot and
aquaterm from source previously, but haven't put all the pieces of the
octave puzzle together yet.

Maybe a "cookbook" approach combining make from source for gnuplot and
aquaterm (and whatever else) with the HPC binaries for octave and
octave-forge is the simplest current Mac installation approach. If I work
out those steps, I'll post them. I don't object to the use of make files as
long as they work. Another approach would be to use DarwinPorts for gnuplot
and aquaterm. Although Fink theoretically is a source for gnuplot and
aquaterm, I'd rather go all-Fink or no-Fink and not try to split the
installation.

In the meanwhile, let's thank Jim, Paul, Per and many others for making
octave available and usable on a Mac. We all know what the alternative
costs.

Joe



> 
> on 3/23/04 1:12 PM, Joe Koski at address@hidden wrote:
> 
>> on 3/23/04 11:30 AM, Henry F. Mollet at address@hidden wrote:
>> 
>>> Joe,
>>> Why could you not change to tcsh (advanced csh) as your default shell? Is
>>> the bash shell, similar to the Bourne shell, not a step backward?
>>> Henry
>>> 
>> This is probably not the proper forum for the UNIX shell debate. The bash
>> shell is now the "standard" for OS X Panther. I could apparently switch back
>> to tcsh without installing anything.
>> 
>> Years ago, when I was using the Korn shell (K-shell) on HP machines and I'd
>> ask how to do something, the local UNIX gurus would always reply with
>> something like "I don't know, I use C-shell." My thought is that staying
>> with the "standard" shell will avoid this type of answer for questions
>> directed toward the Apple/Panther community.
>> 
>> The more pertinent issues may be: Which shell is prevalent on the Linux
>> machines that seem to be the native habitat for Octave? Is there a shell
>> that has some particular advantages for the Octave user?
>> 
>> Joe
>> 
>>> on 3/22/04 7:42 PM, Joe Koski at address@hidden wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Thanks to all for their suggestions on how to install the latest Octave and
>>>> octave-forge under Panther on a Mac. As soon as I feel a bit more
>>>> comfortable with the (new to me) bash shell, I think I'll try to build
>>>> Octave 2.1.57, perhaps from cvs. So far, I have the developer tools (gcc),
>>>> X11, and g77 successfully installed and tested. A bash manual is in the
>>>> mail
>>>> from Amazon. Stay tuned...
>>>> 
>>>> Joe Koski
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.
>>> 
>>> Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
>>> How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
>>> Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------
>>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.
> 
> Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
> How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
> Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> 



-------------------------------------------------------------
Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.

Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
-------------------------------------------------------------