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Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp


From: A. Kalten
Subject: Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:52:41 -0400

On Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:58:21 +0100
Francesco Potorti` <address@hidden> wrote:

> 
> The main problem, as I see it, is look and feel.  A command-line GUI is
> *not* what people expect and are accustomed to use.  This is becoming
> more and more true in the Unix world as well, but it is *much* more
> important among Windows and Mac users.  While on Unix almost everyone is
> accustomed to using a command line at least every now and then, on Mac
> and Windows *only* nerds know that such a thing exists and can be used
> in practice by a normal user.
> 

The main problem is that software like Octave requires a comparatively
sophisticated computer user and not one that always insists on the "crutch"
of a graphical interface.

Advanced mathematical computation, which is what Octave is all about,
depends on a prior knowledge of many things.  The user must understand
the difference between floating point and integer representation,
round-off error, and the discrete nature of numerical algorithms.
A package like Octave cannot be used intelligently without a sufficient
background in these, and many other, basic digital principles.
Those who are unfamiliar with the command-line interface are most likely
unfamiliar with the digital concepts of mathematics as well, and,
I am not sorry to say, they have no business using Octave.

If a student finds the command line to be an impossible environment
the fault is certainly that of his university or college.  A course
in basic computer science, as well as in numerical methods, should
be prerequisites for the use of octave in the classroom.  This
may appear unnecessarily harsh, but a strong background in computation
will help any student tremendously later in his life no matter what
the career.

Let us not forget the KISS idea: Keep It Simple ******.  Why
should octave developers waste time and effort perfecting a
graphical interface that will only benefit the unprepared dilettante
or dabbler?  The competent mathematician or scientist will certainly
appreciate the efforts of Open Source software and it is toward this
group that Octave should be primarily directed.

AK



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