mirror of https://github.com/texmacs/doc.git
77 lines
3.1 KiB
Tcl
77 lines
3.1 KiB
Tcl
<TeXmacs|1.0.0.17>
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<style|tmdoc>
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<\body>
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<expand|tmdoc-title|Why freedom is important for scientists>
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One major objective of <TeXmacs> is to promote the development of free
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software for and by scientists, by significantly reducing the cost of
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producing high quality user interfaces. If you plan to write an interface
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between <apply|TeXmacs> and other software, then please contact us.
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As a mathematician, I am deeply convinced that only free programs are
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acceptable from a scientific point of view. I see two main reasons for
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this:
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<\itemize>
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<item>A result computed by a ``mathematical'' system, whose source code
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is not public, can not be accepted as part of a mathematical proof.
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<item>Just as a mathematician should be able to build theorems on top of
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other theorems, it should be possible to freely modify and release
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algorithms of mathematical software.
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</itemize>
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However, it is strange, and a shame, that the main mathematical programs
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which are currently being used are proprietary. The main reason for this is
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that mathematicians often do not consider programming as a full scientific
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activity. Consequently, the development of useful software is delegated to
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``engineers'' and the resulting programs are used as black boxes.
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This subdivision of scientific activity is very artificial: it is often
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very important from a scientific point of view to know what there is in the
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black box. Inversely, deep scientific understanding usually leads to the
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production of better software. Consequently, I think that scientists should
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advocate the development of software as a full scientific activity,
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comparable to writing articles. Then it is clear too that such software
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should be diffused in a way which is compatible with the requirements of
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science: public availability, reproducibility and free usability.
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<apply|tmdoc-copyright|1998--2002|Joris van der Hoeven>
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<expand|tmdoc-license|Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or
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modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
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Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
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with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
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Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
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"GNU Free Documentation License".>
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</body>
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<associate|language|english>
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</collection>
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</initial>
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<\references>
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</references>
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