Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
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Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
1–10 of 42 posts
Re: Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
#2Isn't it only possible to install as a binary blob, so not open source?
Nothing against the engine itself by the way, which is awesome.
Re: Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
#3Free as in beer, maybe. Not free as in speech. I cannot fork the language and use it however I please. Maybe Stephen Wolfram has the best intentions, but he won't live forever. What then? What are the guarantees that Oracle won't buy it and screw over the users?
Re: Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
#4bollocks. this is what "open souce" and real foss software differ, no bullshit promises and no sweet talk of oh well look but dont touch.
Re: Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
#5Thanks Wolfram, but I like my freedoms uncurated.
Re: Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
#6Didn't convince me. No, it's not. You can pry SymPy and SageMath from my cold, dead hands.
Re: Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
#7Reason's it's "like" FOSS:
> You can use it for free
...Within certain restrictions. Also, lots of proprietary stuff is available for free or close enough.
> You can view the source code
There's actually sort of fair, although it only extends to the functions in the language; "Older or core functions written in C are not viewable this way", and I doubt this extends to the underlying engine.
> You can modify it
Again, provided you stay in the "userspace" parts and don't want to share your changes.
> You can contribute
... stuff that you built in Wolfram, but "we don’t really believe in user contributions to the core language".
> There is a supportive (and supported) community
https://community.oracle.com/hub/
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home
Forgive me if I fail to be impressed.
> There is active development
Until there isn't, at which point the single point of failure suddenly does matter. Also, not much of a standard; IBM still develops Db2, y'know.
Re: Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
#8I'm having a hard time understanding why such posts. You won't change the open source advocate's minds and all others don't care. I guess they value open discussion, which is good.
Re: Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
#9"So it’s not the “free to do anything” of open-source software, but it is free in many cases."
Pretty much all there is to say.I don't want to bash mathematica/wolfram language because i actually like them to a degree, and i also agree with the fact that you don't let everyone design your language.However,that degree is having an account to make in order to use certain things, even free, and other things that make it harder for hobbyists/students to use.Again, this is not even in antithesis with the "we have a business model suited for enterprises", which can definitely remain even if you were to further open the language, or make the tools free to download, without an account that asks for your address, phone number, etc.
Stephen has done truly something great with this project,and it shows, but let's not pretend this is not an attempt at trying to gain back some of the people who look at other popular solutions(like jupyter notebooks, and the dozen of other solutions derived from it) and say: this is more convenient for me.
Open source has become quite literally like some copyrighted posters exposed in the public space.
Re: Why the Wolfram Language Is (Like) Open Source
#10"It's open source, except that the source isn't open."