[Mac OS X TeX] Re: [0ff-topic] Matlab and Mac OS X

[Dave McCollum]

<x-flowed>John,

Thanks for the MatLab update.

I can add some info to this... our Apple Higher Ed rep on campus has 
told me that The Mathworks has lost the main core of "original" 
developers (Mac and Windows) over the past few years. Consequently, 
they are adding features to
MatLab via ActiveX components and other "add on" techniques, in 
effect patching on new features. So, the code base is getting really 
messy. From all accounts, MatLab is due for a major overhaul, which 
The Mathworks is hesitating to do. So, to create a Mac OS X version, 
either Carbon or full Cocoa, would not be trivial, due to recent 
changes to the MatLab codebase, as well as the lack of people with 
intimate knowledge of the codebase, especially on the Mac side.

Since MatLab is a major/popular scientific/engineering app for the 
Mac OS, Apple tried to encourage The Mathworks to make a new Mac OS 
port (for OS 9 or OS X only, or both). This encouragement included 
substantial financial incentives and offers of "manpower." So far, 
The Mathworks has not expressed any interest in the offers....

Oh well, I guess that the MatLab users among us will have to use it 
in OS 9 or Classic. Classic performance of MatLab 5.2.1 is 90% or 
better, except for graphics support.



-Dave


>All,
>   I know this is off-topic, but as scientists on the Mac are major uses of
>both TeX and Matlab, and the issue was raised on this list, I thought it was
>still appropriate.
>   As I do routinely since The Mathworks stopped developing Matlab for the
>mac, I wrote once again to The Mathworks to seek re-development, especially
>for Mac OS X 10.1.  My comments included the suggestion made here (i.e., on
>this list) that re-development should much easier for OS X because it is
>essentially 'nix at its core.  I thought I'd share the response I received:
>
>>  This is in response to Case ID:  688201
>>
>>  Dear Dr. John Vokey:
>>
>>  MATLAB is not supported under Mac OS X.
>>
>>  As we do with all unsupported platforms, we will continually monitor the
>>  marketplace to see whether we should consider support for OS X. At the
>>  current time we do not have any plans or timeframe for supporting OS X.
>>
>>  While we are aware of the similarities and differences between OS X and
>>  other Unix-based systems that we currently support (including issues
>>  related to POSIX compliance, window managers, OpenGL support, number
>>  crunching ability, etc), making a decision to support MATLAB on additional
>>  platforms involves analyzing trends in industrial and educational sectors
>>  to ensure that our resources are allocated in the best way possible for the
>>  entire MATLAB community.
>>  Sincerely,
>>  Natasha Niedzwiecki
>>  Product and Pricing Team
>
>--
>Freedom of religion includes freedom from religion.
>
>John R. Vokey, Ph.D.
>Professor
>Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
>University of Lethbridge
>
>
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