[Mac OS X TeX] Re: [0ff-topic] Matlab and Mac OS X

[Arun Mangalam]

<x-flowed>Wow! That's pretty insightful information on the Mathworks situation. i 
guess I won't wait anymore.

However, there are two open-source alternatives that apparently compile 
on the Mac: Octave and SciLab. Here's a URL to the MacOSX compilations:

http://homepage.mac.com/persquare/

I think SciLab even has a new MultiFractal and Wavelet toolbox added. 
Anyway, both Octave and SciLab read in MatLab files, I believe. I think 
it would be nice if more people started to use one the packages, and 
start to contribute in a beautiful open-source native OSX scientific 
package. I guess those are my dreams .. :)

Otherwise, there is, of course, OSX native Mathematica for 
symbolic/signal processing capabilities, and LabVIEW should be releasing 
an OSX version in the near future as they are in the internal beta test 
stage [they have a PID toolbox].

I just find that mathworks loses millions to these other companies.

- Arun

On Monday, October 1, 2001, at 02:44  PM, Dave McCollum wrote:

> John,
>
> Thanks for the MatLab update.
>
> I can add some info to this... our Apple Higher Ed rep on campus has 
> told me that The Mathworks has lost the main core of "original" 
> developers (Mac and Windows) over the past few years. Consequently, 
> they are adding features to
> MatLab via ActiveX components and other "add on" techniques, in effect 
> patching on new features. So, the code base is getting really messy. 
> From all accounts, MatLab is due for a major overhaul, which The 
> Mathworks is hesitating to do. So, to create a Mac OS X version, either 
> Carbon or full Cocoa, would not be trivial, due to recent changes to 
> the MatLab codebase, as well as the lack of people with intimate 
> knowledge of the codebase, especially on the Mac side.
>
> Since MatLab is a major/popular scientific/engineering app for the Mac 
> OS, Apple tried to encourage The Mathworks to make a new Mac OS port 
> (for OS 9 or OS X only, or both). This encouragement included 
> substantial financial incentives and offers of "manpower." So far, The 
> Mathworks has not expressed any interest in the offers....
>
> Oh well, I guess that the MatLab users among us will have to use it in 
> OS 9 or Classic. Classic performance of MatLab 5.2.1 is 90% or better, 
> except for graphics support.
>
>
>
> -Dave
>
>
>> All,
>>   I know this is off-topic, but as scientists on the Mac are major 
>> uses of
>> both TeX and Matlab, and the issue was raised on this list, I thought 
>> it was
>> still appropriate.
>>   As I do routinely since The Mathworks stopped developing Matlab for 
>> the
>> mac, I wrote once again to The Mathworks to seek re-development, 
>> especially
>> for Mac OS X 10.1.  My comments included the suggestion made here 
>> (i.e., on
>> this list) that re-development should much easier for OS X because it 
>> is
>> essentially 'nix at its core.  I thought I'd share the response I 
>> received:
>>
>>>  This is in response to Case ID:  688201
>>>
>>>  Dear Dr. John Vokey:
>>>
>>>  MATLAB is not supported under Mac OS X.
>>>
>>>  As we do with all unsupported platforms, we will continually monitor 
>>> the
>>>  marketplace to see whether we should consider support for OS X. At 
>>> the
>>>  current time we do not have any plans or timeframe for supporting OS 
>>> X.
>>>
>>>  While we are aware of the similarities and differences between OS X 
>>> and
>>>  other Unix-based systems that we currently support (including issues
>>>  related to POSIX compliance, window managers, OpenGL support, number
>>>  crunching ability, etc), making a decision to support MATLAB on 
>>> additional
>>>  platforms involves analyzing trends in industrial and educational 
>>> sectors
>>>  to ensure that our resources are allocated in the best way possible 
>>> for the
>>>  entire MATLAB community.
>>>  Sincerely,
>>>  Natasha Niedzwiecki
>>>  Product and Pricing Team
>>
>> --
>> Freedom of religion includes freedom from religion.
>>
>> John R. Vokey, Ph.D.
>> Professor
>> Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
>> University of Lethbridge
>>
>>
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