Re: Is it safe to use Matlab?

[CdeMills]

Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso-2 wrote:
> 
> The Mathworks right now mostly ignores Octave because we're still
> small potatoes compared to them.
> 
> HOWEVER
> 
> Should we ever become a significant competitor, I don't doubt they'd
> try a few legal assaults. In this regard, we always tell people,
> "don't read Matlab source when implementing functions for Octave",
> i.e. avoid legal risk.
> 
> 
You can look at MatLab from many levels:
- documentation: see how some interface is implemented
- .m files: this is copyrighted material
- sources: it seems this is not part of a standard MatLab implementation.

As other said, looking at the doc should be  OK. Looking inside .m files is
already reverse engineering. In my opinion, developpers should keep a clear
trace of the evolution of their implementations. At the same time, make the
algorithms used in their code public, together with enough details to
convince that they know what they're talking about, references to
publications, and so on. The goal is to demonstrate that their
implementation can be considered as something usual for a skilled person. 

Regards

Pascal

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