Re: [OctDev] RE: GUI for Octave programs.

[Etienne G. <et...@an...>]

  Hello

From: "Matthew W. Roberts" <ma...@ne...>

#  > Wow!  You exist!  Working on Octave I know can be very
#  > disheartening.  Few people join in and collaborate on anything.
#  > Oh, well.

#  Well, it's not so much that I'm disheartened.  My Committee chair is
#  retiring in December and I'm trying to get my Dissertation cranked
#  out by then.

#  I've been forced to use Matlab, unfortunately, in my research
#  because of some of Octave's limitations with structures (can't save
#  them, can't have arrays of structures).  I was considering trying to
#  finish up `in absentia', but then I found out how much it would cost
#  to get a licensed version of Matlab.  Eeek!  Since then I've been
#  racking my brain trying to figure out a way to start a company based
#  on Octave.  From what I've seen with Eazel, Corel Linux, Stormix, et
#  al, I'm not sure an open source company can survive.

  What about charging some fee for installing and showing the how to
use octave to matlab-addicts (labs, universities). Maybe together w/
maintainance, technical assistance, consulting (for specialized
numerical needs). Your fee would easily beat matlab's bid and you
could contribute a fixed % to octave. I would be tempted by this kind
I scheme.

#  Thanks for your comments.  Some specific replies:

#  > 2) ...   Support for independent packaging is not appropriate at
#  > the moment since the toolboxes are mostly tiny (except signal and
#  > image) and enthusiasm is low.

  But dependencies between functions should be checked.

#  I agree.  However, we should still set up the directory structure
#  with packaging in mind.

#  > How about we put a hard limit of 5 Mb total main tree size before
#  > we worry about separate packaging?

#  Sounds good to me.

#  > 6) Functions should not require patched versions of Octave or
#  > gnuplot to run.

#  Definitely agree.

#  I like your directory structure.  The main tree is for additions to
#  the standard octave distribution, right?

#  --
#  Matthew W. Roberts


  Cheers, 

  Etienne