On Nov 19, 2007 3:46 AM, D.J. Keenan <> wrote:
> I just saw your opinion piece in Notices of the AMS.
> Naturally I am wondering about Maple, which is (a)
> Mathematica's main competitor and (b) very largely
> open source. What is your opinion about using Maple?
> (I use Maple, but have no affiliation with Maplesoft.)
(a) Indeed, Maple (and MATLAB) are Mathematica's main competitors.
(b) Maple is not "open source" in the sense I mean in the article.
1. A substantial chunk of Maple is pre-compiled libraries:
In Maple 10 at least, there's many completely closed pre-compiled
shared object libraries included that implement much core
functionality, e.g.,
maple10/bin.IBM_INTEL_LINUX/libmaple.so
libnag2.so, etc. I also know that Maple 11 ships with Faugere's
F4 Groebner
basis implementation as a closed library.
2. Source code of Maple that you can see is released under an extremely
restrictive license and terms of usage clause. One of my students wanted
to read some code in Maple then implement something similar in Sage,
and when we wrote to Maple about this they quickly responded that it is
illegal to even "attempt to gain access to its method of
operation or source code;"
(See forwarded message below.) So according to the Maple license agreement
even looking at the source code they do include is a violation.
That's definitely
not open source.
3. Dumb question -- Where is the actual source code of anything in Maple?
I'm skimming through my Maple install to see some actual source code and
I can't find anything. The lib/ directory has lots of .mla
files, but these are all
pre-compiled binary files -- no source code. Is there some tool
included with
Maple to decompile them? (I'm not being rhetorical, I simply don't know
how to actually view source code of Maple functions, even if I wanted to.)
4. Maple is expensive. One of the key properties of open source software is
that one has the right to modify it and redistribute the
modified version for
free. This is of course not the case with Maple. This was one
of the main
issues that got me started with Sage. I had written a large
amount of code
in Magma (another commercial math program, which is more targeted at
pure mathematics than Maple), and had written the code to support research
I was doing and make it easier for students to learn about
"modular forms".
Unfortunately students very often couldn't benefit from
this because Magma is very expensive.
After an endless succession of complaints from students, I said
enough is enough,
and decided to change things for the better, no matter what.
5. Finally, there is something called "The Open Source Initiative"
http://www.opensource.org/
which precisely defines the term "open source". They would
certainly not consider
Maple to be open source.
-- William
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2006 10:28:02 -0500
From: Maplesoft Technical Support <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Joshua Kantor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: Maplesoft Technical Support <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: Policy on Use of Source Code
Dear Joshua Kantor,
Reproducing and redistribution of Maple code is a violation of the
license agreement. If you check the license agreement in Section 7:
unless Maplesoft has expressly authorized it, in writing for a given
situation, this is a direct violation of the EULA.
Here's copy of the section and attached is the full EULA.
7. GENERAL LICENSE RESTRICTIONS. The License of all Software hereunder
is subject to the express restrictions set forth below in addition to
the restrictions imposed by the applicable License Option, Installation
Type and Order Confirmation. Without the express written permission of
Maplesoft, Licensee shall not, and shall not permit any Third Party to:
(a) reproduce, transmit, modify, adapt, translate or create any
derivative work of, any part of the Software, in whole or in part,
except for any content developed by Registered Users in Maple Worksheets
that are not part of an electronic book Software product or as otherwise
expressly permitted in this Agreement;
(b) reverse engineer, disassemble, or decompile the Software, create
derivative works based on the Software, or otherwise attempt to gain
access to its method of operation or source code;
[....]
I hope this answers your questions.
Sincerely,
Maplesoft Technical Support
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