Re: new matlab features

[Paul Thomas]

John,

I am sure that you are right about the calls for features that octave 
lacks, relative to R14.  Oddly, though, I sense a desperation in this 
pushing of features that very few, if any, of Mathworks customers will 
be interested in.  To me, as a heavy Matlab user, its strengths are 
epitomised in:

Development Environment

This is a very slick part of Matlab.  One can live without it but life, 
sure as heck, is easier with it.

Performance and Platform Support

Here the improvements obtained with the "JIT" compiler are truly 
impressive in some intellectual sense.  I am not sure that I understand 
its extension to all types in R14, in that the extension must be 
marginal in terms of usage.  In fact, Matlab R11 is already a factor 10 
times faster than octave-2.1.56 for F77-type code.  From the point of 
view, of every day use, this was already enough; I do not detect any 
significant difference in the jobs that I am doing.  If we could get to 
the bottom of where this difference, pre-JIT, comes from, I think that 
octave would be immeasurably improved.

Graphics and 3-D Visualization

This, from my point of view and that of all my colleagues, is the true 
strength of Matlab, since version 11-ish.  Not only are the graphics 
good but the GUI is excellent.

The conclusions that I would draw from the appearance of R14  are:

1] The small bunch of volunteers who are developing octave are doing 
fine relative to the hundreds doing R14.
2] The small bunch of volunteers who are developing octave should be 
damned proud of themselves.
3] There is perhaps something symptomatic in the octave graphics list; 
an anouncement that "a handle graphics project has started" stopped the 
list in its tracks.....
4] The will of small bunch of volunteers who are developing octave is 
such that if they worked together more, they could give Mathworks a run 
for their money in the above three areas (in reverse order of priority, 
I think).

Perhaps the call that John made to improve basic tests could be a 
clarion call for more collective effort to develop octave?  As for the 
gripers... stuff-em!  As my forebearers from the north of England would 
say, "You don't get owt for nowt!"

Paul T