Re: Money Program Does Linux

[José Luis Gómez Dans <nospam [at] sheffield.ac.uk>]

On Mon, Feb 14, 2000 at 11:57:54PM -0000, Richard wrote:
> Jose
> 
> >  It would be a good idea for an add-on for the web page, to list
> > and comment experiences with these programs. Oh, well, just my
> > contribution :)
> 
> Yes, I had thought about that myself :-)  But we live in a day and 
> age when *really* geeky programs are not required.  We have to 
> produce MS look alike programs or throw the stuff away.

	Well, that's one way of putting it in. It all depends on who you
talk to. I mean, I can't remember the last time I used an office-like
package (read Word or Excel), and I have never used Oracle (I suppose
that I have in some web page, but I wasn't aware of it). If we have to
produce MS look alike programs, then we might as well use MS. Software
is a tool after all. One of my reasons for using Linux is that I more or
less have a portable system: I write my code here in a PC and run it in
an forrmer-DEC alpha.

> I'd like to see more academic programs to do with IT or medicine or 
> physics or chemistry be seen more often in the Linux community.  But, 

	Generally, that kind of software is far more advanced in Linux.
Unless, that is, you want to use Mathcad or stuff like that. However,
try PVM or MPI on something other than UN*X (even for that, Linux could
do with looking a bit like some of the parallel stuff you get from SGI
or forermly-DEC).

> we haven't got a group of people who can produce a windows-like HE 
> educational project in five minutes in the way that the windoze HE 
> community can.  Educational software is a way forward to the future ? 
>  Our children will see it and think of their own ideas ?

	I suppose that what you mean there is that Linux lacks some sort
of visual Basic so that people can't just write all this
teach-yourself-time-management programs which both interactive and
multimedia (as seen on the box of *every* kind of software  you buy
nowadays). If someone wants to produce something good and easily in this
fashion on Linux, one could use JPython <http://www.python.org>. This is
simple, OO and also has a Numerical extension to it (OK, you could also
use perl, but...). That's if you *need* the multimedia/point and click
and use from within any browser. And developing something *IS* fast.

> I know that if I want to learn something very quickly then all I have 
> to do is approach a HE group who are working on multimedia software 
> that is aimed at a degree level audience.  How will the Linux 
> community deal with this ?

	I tend to go to the library and get some good books out. As far
as my experience goes, all this multimedia stuff is incredibly
patronising and a right pain in the bum: after all. You don't get
anything more multimedia than a book. But again, that's a personal
opinion.

	Regards,
	José
-- 
José L Gómez Dans			PhD student
					Radar & Communications Group
					Department of Electronic Engineering
					University of Sheffield UK
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