Re: Open Letter to Octave Community

[Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso]

I'm not sure how to respond to this. I should probably not respond
before anyone else does, but as a very junior Octave developer I'm a
bit impulsive and verbose. ;-) I would like to share a few
impressions.

Octave's goal isn't necessarily popularity, or at least it's not its
primary goal. You repeatedly refer to it as open source, but you
should be aware that Octave is a GNU project. It uses GNU's licenses,
web infrastructure, coding standards, build tools, and operating
system. The relationship between GNU and Octave runs deep, so in
particular, we like to emphasise the freedom of the software, which we
generally believe to be more important than its openness, because
openness is an obvious prerequisite for freedom. Do not, however,
misunderstand me. The GNU project is not adverse to commercialisation;
on the contrary, we welcome it with open arms, but not at the expense
of the user's freedom. You don't seem to be demanding this price, so
we seem to agree here. I am merely clarifying some sociological points
that may be different from your expectations.

The language you use is inviting, and I for one am starting to feel
very encouraged that you are extending an invitation and are willing
to clarify your site's terms of use. I see the Scilab users and
developers as distant cousins, so if they have accepted you, I think
so can we.

The features you describe about Equalis seem to completely overlap
with what Fotios Kasolis and I were starting to do with the Agora
project, but we're just two amateurs, not a dedicated team. I think I
would still like to partake in the development of a website that
better serves the Octave community. I'm not against the idea of
sharing the site with Scilab and Sage, although I would personally
have to set aside a little ego and tribal feelings about Octave to do
so. ;-)

Thank you for your letter. Your motives seem sincere, and I think
Equalis and Octave could have a good symbiosis.

Yours,
- Jordi G. H.