This is a super wise advice : >> Be a scout in the proprietary camp. Learn the tools your instructors are >> willing to teach. Learn what it takes to achieve the same results with free >> software. Learn the difference in workflows and user experience.
Comparing stuff in scenarios you don't invent yourself is super enlightening. Once you don't define the scenario, all sorts of edge/unexpected situations arise. For example, if you work with math stuff, I'm sure you'll find interesting differences between computations results (e.g. matlab equations solving versus say Octave). stF > Le 18 mai 2018 à 12:54, Yuri Khan <yurivk...@gmail.com> a écrit : > > > On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 7:29 AM <ed...@openmail.cc> wrote: > > > _I_ need help. I am in graduate school, and I keep having issues with my > > advisor for my strong inclination to use free software. I am obviously > > not in position to refuse, but she dislikes to have discussions about > > it. She pays a stipend to me every month, and my tuition is wa[i]ved. > > > Is anyone here aware of a place where they do computational human > > biomechanics, mechanics, materials or finite elements where I could > > interact with free software? (having github, LaTeX, Python, etc.; avoid > > Micro$oft products, Matlab, Mathematica, etc.). Is there no place where > > one can simply use free software on a daily basis? > > Are you required to pay for licenses for proprietary software you are asked > to use? Chances are, your school is getting academic discounts, and you get > to use it for no charge. > > Your instructors and professors probably have a lot of experience with > those tools. They are understandably reluctant to switch, because the tools > work well enough for them. > > Also, as a student, you do not have sufficient influence to convert > everybody at your school to free software. > > > As a student or junior faculty, how do you go about this? Do you just > > nod and wave your freedom good bye? > > The point of education is to get exposed to many tools, techniques and > workflows. By limiting yourself to free software only, you will miss out. > > Be a scout in the proprietary camp. Learn the tools your instructors are > willing to teach. Learn what it takes to achieve the same results with free > software. Learn the difference in workflows and user experience. > > You will find something you can do with free software that you don’t know > how to do with proprietary tools. Ask your teachers. They will either point > you at something you missed (and then you can study it); or they will admit > that feature is nice but their tool doesn’t have it (and then you have > demonstrated the merits of free software); or they will say it’s not > important. > > You will also likely find more than a few points where non-free software > delivers better UX. Use that knowledge to improve free software so that it > can compete with proprietary software on UX terms, not only on the issue of > freedom. >
