Student use of SciLab or MatLab

I will shortly be starting an electronics class, where we are being asked to do calculations in MatLab.

  1. I don't mind shelling out the 0 for MatLab, but I hear the license is extremely restrictive -- you have to keep the CD in the drive, plus you are supposed to stop using it once you are no longer taking the course, plus it's got the product registration stuff.

I frankly don't care, as a matter of moral principle, about violating the license -- I could fill a long essay with why those licenses are crap [no flames please, you are of course welcome to view matters differently than I do] -- but as a practical matter, is there any way for Mathworks to know if I am still using the product after I am no longer taking courses?

Also, if I want to eventually install the product on a newer computer, when I get rid of the current one, does Mathworks require some proof of student status? Because, in practice, there is no way I'm going to stop using the product once I stop taking classes -- so if Mathworks has a practical way to enforce this license, they can go to heck as far as I'm concerned.

  1. I looked at Octave, but that seems to run only on Linux, which doesn't do me any good. So I may want to try SciLab instead. My question is, at an elementary level -- and the class I'm taking deals with simulating elementary circuit functions -- is the language used by SciLab and MatLab the same? I'm not sure yet how we submit homework (this is a distance learning class), but if I have to submit a SciLab file to the professor, will that file be functional under MatLab? Again, we are talking pretty basic RLC circuits, very simple op-amp circuits, simple filters, simple simple simple, etc.

More generally, the goal is, even if I use SciLab, I want to know if, when I'm on a job, and they are using MatLab, my basic familiarity with SciLab will mean I'm also basically familiar with MatLab.

Thanks in advance for all replies.

CJ

Reply to
CJ
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Last I checked, that was only true of the Windows version (not the Linux version). I do agree it's damned annoying; with a little searching you should be able to find appropriate cracks that remove the restriction. (But please pay for the software anyway and don't spread around copies to your friends!)

Only if you do something silly like show up at a conference registered under a company name but your slides still say "MATLAB STUDENT EDITION" on them. :-)

In my experience, no. Realistically most CAD-type companies are willing to extend (either formally or by turning a blind eye) "educational" price to anyone using their products in non-fiduciary ways -- hobbyists, students, bored housewives, etc.

I can't comment on your other questions, not having used Octave or SciLab. Where I went to school there were site licenses for Matlab available; it's unfortunate your school doesn't offer those or else standardizes on one of the products that *is* free.

I think that's a fair statement, but keep in mind that most people who use something like MatLab in an educational setting generally only ever scratch the surface of what it can do -- probably less than 1% of students ever make use of its object-oriented programming features, for instance. (My point here is that "basic familiarity" with Matlab, etc. is something you can obtain in no more than a day or so of concerted effort playing with the thing -- don't sweat it.)

---Joel Kolstad

Reply to
Joel Kolstad

"CJ" wrote in news:1137625524.604956.266810 @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

*snip*

*snip*

I run Octave on Cygwin. It runs under Windows that way. There's no reason you can't get the Octave source and compile it for Windows, it's just not recommended (I think) or supported.

[Caution: I do NOT like MATLAB. I think it's a waste of time to try to use it and you're better off with a TI-89 Titanium or a much more professional feeling Computer Algebra System.]

MATLAB is a money sucker. You need this for this and that for that and you pay all kinds of money and it doesn't even look pretty. At least the TI-89 Titanium calculator makes the output look pretty.

Puckdropper

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Reply to
Puckdropper

Octave runs under Windows if you have Cygwin. It's bundled with it, as a matter of fact.

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Reply to
red floyd

You can get software for creating a virtual drive that you can put stuff like Matlab on, I got a legal copy of something that did that for one of my greatest business disasters, a couple of years ago. So you can keep the CD tray empty, loads Much faster as well

martin

Reply to
martin griffith

"CJ" wrote in news:1137625524.604956.266810 @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

Snip self righteous BS

Octave used to run on Windows, are you sure?

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So I may want to try SciLab instead. My

No

I'm not sure yet how we submit homework

No

No, there are differences in the languages even at a simple level. It would be possible to write a translator sci2m, but that would be a fair size job.

Yes, although if you are like me you'll end up using both. Scilab is /better/ than Matlab for a whole bunch of things. In both cases I find that the typical job involves a quick bit of structural work, followed by a lot of close reading of help files to understand the whys and wherefores of rarely used complex and powerful functions.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Reply to
Greg Locock

(As already postet:) The Scilab files won't work with Matlab. Anyway, the results should be similar. So it wouldn't make too great demands on your professor to accept this.

The programming languages of Scilab and Matlab share a lot of ideas. In spite of some differences, their basic usage is very similar. Even though some people criticise all this as poor kind of scripting, from the educational point of view you'll be "basically" familiar with both. It should make no difference neither for your prof nor for an employer.

So I recommend to ask the professor to accept also the work in Scilab.

(Btw. I'm really expelled from Matlab by the terrible license policy and horrible prices.)

Best regards, Erich

Reply to
Eric

Not a lot of money, the equivalent of a couple of textbooks. Do you complain in the same way about that $50 textbook you need for some class in a subject you just know you will never have another look at after having taken the exam?

I am sure the philosophical discussion could be very interesting. On a practical level, view the program as just another textbook. Use it for the classes where you find it useful, as you would with any textbook, and leave the rest. Using some other program than recommended causes problems for one person only: You.

No.

If you are taking an intro class, you would probably want to implement a lot of that stuff yourself. You wouldn't need the fancy stuff, like the toolboxes and so on.

In the general scheme of things, maybe... On a practical hands-on level: No. Scilab and matlab are just different enough not to be interchangeable.

Rune

Reply to
Rune Allnor

FYI, with the Student Version of MATLAB 7.1 (R14SP3), due to the student version activation technology, you are no longer required to have the CD in the drive to start MATLAB.

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For more information on activation, look at the "Student Version Activation" and "Frequently Asked Questions" links on the left-hand side of that page.

*snip*
--
Steve Lord
slord@mathworks.com
Reply to
Steven Lord

"Steven Lord" wrote in news:dqo4so$amf$ snipped-for-privacy@fred.mathworks.com:

Thanks for the update, Steve. I think that's very responsive!

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Scott
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Reply to
Scott Seidman

I've used both MatLab and SciLab (though neither very recently) and agree they are enough different that it could pose problems with homework. In my experience MatLab had much better documentation which would make it easier to learn. But the non-student version's price is outrageous ! However, SciLab is similar enough that once you are familiar with MatLab switching to SciLab is pretty easy.

I'd think you might be better off to use MatLab for your course to avoid compatibility problems and to get the better quality documentation to help you learn it, then switch to SciLab later if you have any problems with the licence issue.

Steve

Reply to
Steve Kavanagh

Hi all,

OK, Octane will be usable under Win. Is it truely compatible with MatLab?

Marte

Reply to
Marte Schwarz

Any of the product, Matlab, Octave, Scilab will provide decent tools for your class. Other things to consider are: 1) support for problems that you might have; 2) sharing with other students in the class; 3) use of the tool in the future and the learning curve.

IF you think you'll be using Matlab in the future, perhaps working for a large corporation, then they'll likely be able to afford Matlab and the experience with Matlab now will help you in the future.

However, if you think you'll be working for a small company in the future, use of Scilab or Octave will help you in the future because it is not likely that Matlab will be available (because of the high cost to a small business), unless your morals about breaking the law and violating the software license extends to the purchase one of the cracked full-version of Matlab from an East European website.

Matlab is a pretty generic package. If you interest in really electronics, you might also take a look at Electronics Workbench. The student version runs about $80.

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Reply to
AntiSPAM_g9u5dd43

You might have a look at O-Matrix,

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- Students may obtain a license for only $85

- There is no difference in the student version and commercial version; it contains all functionality without restrictions.

- The license may be transferred to other machines

- Performance far exceeds SciLab, and Matlab,

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- May be run in O-Matrix language mode which provides more advanced language capabilities, or in matlab-mode which provides compatiblity for existing matlab functions and scripts;

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Harmonic Software

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Fred Bloggs

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