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I used Octave when my educational license for Matlab expired. We need OSS competitors to keep Matlab in check, already at $1k/year https://www.mathworks.com/pr

by yonz 4y ago

I used Octave when my educational license for Matlab expired. We need OSS competitors to keep Matlab in check, already at $1k/year https://www.mathworks.com/pricing-licensing.html https://www.mathworks.com/pricing-licensing.html

Tijdreiziger 4y ago
They have a home license for €120 and an academic license for €500 though. Of course, Octave is still cheaper.
- tmtvl 4y ago
  Octave is a great project though since it is Free (in both senses of the word) it would be nice if people who end up saving €120/year on ML could consider passing a portion of those savings on in the form of a donation.
  - Tijdreiziger 4y ago
    Yes, the fact that Octave is FOSS is definitely awesome too, I didn’t mean to diminish that :)
- IshKebab 4y ago
  Yeah the home MATLAB license is the most expensive software I've actually bought. Octave is... okish. But Matlab is like 80% plotting and Octave's plotting support is pretty terrible. In my opinion there isn't really anything that competes with MATLAB for the things it is really good at. Numpy is shit. If you really can't afford £120 for MATLAB then I would say the next best option is Scilab. Now we just need SOLIDWORKS to introduce a decent hobby license. They added one recently but it's subscription only so screw that.
  - Tijdreiziger 4y ago
    > Yeah the home MATLAB license is the most expensive software I've actually bought. Are you sure? The standalone version of Microsoft Office is more expensive at €150. Windows is even more expensive, but of course most people get that bundled with their computer.
    - IshKebab 4y ago
      I've never bought Office. Google's office apps are sufficient for my casual use.
  - tpoacher 4y ago
    > Octave's plotting support is pretty terrible. Wait, what? I switched all my plotting in my thesis (5 years ago) from matlab to octave precisely because matlab plots were terrible. Are you thinking of octave v3 from 15 years ago when it relied on gnuplot by any chance?
- marmetio 4y ago
  FYI the 500 academic license is for institutions. You can buy a student license for yourself for less than that.

by yonz 4y ago

Tijdreiziger 4y ago

They have a home license for €120 and an academic license for €500 though. Of course, Octave is still cheaper.

tmtvl 4y ago
Octave is a great project though since it is Free (in both senses of the word) it would be nice if people who end up saving €120/year on ML could consider passing a portion of those savings on in the form of a donation.
- Tijdreiziger 4y ago
  Yes, the fact that Octave is FOSS is definitely awesome too, I didn’t mean to diminish that :)
IshKebab 4y ago
Yeah the home MATLAB license is the most expensive software I've actually bought. Octave is... okish. But Matlab is like 80% plotting and Octave's plotting support is pretty terrible. In my opinion there isn't really anything that competes with MATLAB for the things it is really good at. Numpy is shit. If you really can't afford £120 for MATLAB then I would say the next best option is Scilab. Now we just need SOLIDWORKS to introduce a decent hobby license. They added one recently but it's subscription only so screw that.
- Tijdreiziger 4y ago
  > Yeah the home MATLAB license is the most expensive software I've actually bought. Are you sure? The standalone version of Microsoft Office is more expensive at €150. Windows is even more expensive, but of course most people get that bundled with their computer.
  - IshKebab 4y ago
    I've never bought Office. Google's office apps are sufficient for my casual use.
- tpoacher 4y ago
  > Octave's plotting support is pretty terrible. Wait, what? I switched all my plotting in my thesis (5 years ago) from matlab to octave precisely because matlab plots were terrible. Are you thinking of octave v3 from 15 years ago when it relied on gnuplot by any chance?
marmetio 4y ago
FYI the 500 academic license is for institutions. You can buy a student license for yourself for less than that.