mirror of https://github.com/texmacs/doc.git
52 lines
2.4 KiB
Tcl
52 lines
2.4 KiB
Tcl
<TeXmacs|1.99.18>
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<style|<tuple|tmdoc|english|old-spacing|old-dots|old-lengths>>
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<\body>
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<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 <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 \Pmathematical\Q 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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\Pengineers\Q 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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<tmdoc-copyright|1998\U2021|Joris van der Hoeven>
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<tmdoc-license|Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
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document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1
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or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
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Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
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Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free
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Documentation License".>
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</body>
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<initial|<\collection>
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</collection>> |