Hi John, * John Hunter <jdhunter@ace.bsd.uchicago.edu> wrote:
"Rob" == Rob Hetland <hetland@tamu.edu> writes:
Rob> All of the arguments made *for* PyLab are true -- you think Rob> so too, or you wouldn't be reading this. I have been a huge Rob> proponent of PyLab, and have taught seminars on it here at Rob> Texas A&M and Woods Hole to people who primarily use MATLAB. Rob> I have heard a number of objections or excuses that it all Rob> looks good, but..... - it's hard to install - I already know Rob> how to use MATLAB, and it works fine for me - when do I find Rob> a week (or month or semester) to learn a new programing Rob> language - I already have so many m-files that I would need Rob> to rewrite
[...]
So aside from my support for GNU and linux and open source software, I don't want to wake up some day outside the folds of academia having to pay for matlab. Every day I use matlab is another set of plotting and analysis functions that I come to rely on, which makes it increasingly hard to go cold turkey. Every once in a while I make an aborted attempt to give it up (I know it's not good for me) but I always find myself coming back. The main reason is the graphics -- the ease with which I can make publication quality figures that I just haven't found in competing, open source, free as in Richard Stallman (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html), solutions.
Pretty interesting! I hope I can convince my Prof to go for pyhton using your arguments ... but I do not understand that there is a problem with publication quality graphics. For 2D matplotlib should be enough; for 3D mayavi2/tvtk and python-vtk should be able to produce quality graphics too!? Greetings! Fabian