This is called flamebait, and I am guessing thats why no one has responded yet. But its been in the back of my mind since I first read it yesterday, and here is what I have to say...
I just kind of started following SAGE but the most obvious response to this sort of criticism is to point out that it could have been made of a large number of open source projects when they were in their infancy (Linux, X11, Gnome, Firefox, etc). The only significant distinction between those projects and SAGE is that (for the most part) they don't attempt to implement algorithms that could be very different depending on come amount of research. And Wolfram has definitely hired people who are researching how to produce the most efficient and cutting edge algorithms... But in the realm of pure mathematics, no research professors are using Mathematica, are they? (Correct me if i'm wrong, I am an undergrad). The only thing I see people using it for is to quickly graph something, solve some equations, etc. Things that SAGE is at least on par with Mathematica for. The only reason people are using Mathematica for this stuff is because its what they are used to and the universities pay for it so we don't see its astronomical cost. On the other hand, the actual research mathematics software is by and large open source, often just some C code on some professor or grad students page that doesn't even have a license attached to it. I think that this is going to be where SAGE does well because once more and more grad students (professors to be) know a platform like SAGE, they will make use of SAGE as it is much better for productivity and ease than writing everything from scratch. Another reason why open source and math work well together is that when your users are mathematicians their is a very high chance they will contribute back (to the core of the project when they want something implemented/fixed) than say, the average Firefox user. And from their its just a snowball effect. On the other hand, I don't know anything about the components of Mathematica that applied math/physics people use, or how they compare to what's in SAGE. But to dominate in the realm of pure math is quite a worthy goal, don't ya think? On Jul 11, 7:23 pm, "Dr. David Kirkby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > There is an interesting comment about Sage on sci.math.symbolic from > "Vladimir Bondarenko", who can be a bit of a pain in the ****, but > does sometimes have some sensible things to say. It followed a > complaint from a Solaris user about how WRI are treating Unix users > of Mathematica, by not updating the Unix version as much as the > Windows/Linux/Mac version, despite charging a higher price for HP-UX > and Solaris versions. > > I'm interested in there is any evidence the gap between Sage and > Mathematica is widening or narrowing. Have there been any independent > reviews of how the gap is changing? > > ****************************************************************************************** > From "Vladimir Bondarenko" on sci.math.symbolic > ****************************************************************************************** > We did not have the chance and resource to test SAGE yet. > > Still, based on its components (Maxima etc), and our internal > calculations about Maxima, we now do not feel that spending > some dozens human-years could have shorten tangibly the > conspicuous gap between the commercial CAS systems like > Mathematica and the current open source CAS projects. > > I realize that the SAGE folks keep developing also their own > (hopefully, efficient) code. Still, at the same span of time, > say, Wolfram Research pushes their Mathematica even further. > > So, maybe, in time, the gap will only grow. > > Of course, one can say that, in some years, WRI could go > out of the stage (God forbid!) while the open source CASs > will be continued. Somehow, this is about predicting the > future. > > Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. > > -- Niels Bohr > > Best wishes, > > Vladimir Bondarenko > > ****************************************************************************************** > ****************************************************************************************** --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://www.sagemath.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
