this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I studied ecology, and first semester maths was done by a professor who only accepted our homework if it was coded in GNU Octave.
That was a fun learning experience for most of us who went into it with no computer background.
His (as it later turned out, correct) reasoning was that Matlab is a standard tool in Geosciences, but he didn't want to require us to buy it, so we're using the free alternative that can be installed on any Linux system.
It was my first Linux experience, and I got hooked. In my bachelor's thesis I coded a 3D simulation of groundwater movement, and afterwards I ended up in IT instead of ecology.
Octave FTW. Matlab is such a corporate cesspool
We used Matlab in 3rd year of high school. Teachers sent us link to download pirated version. I installed GNU Octave.
My uni provided a complete license for the entire MATLAB suite, but this piece of software is genuinely a nightmare to use. Every time i has to touch it, i wish i just had python instead
My uni also provided MATLAB, but I just used Octave instead for all assignments that required it and was never asked about it or told I couldn't.