Market share, was: Re: [Axiom-developer] Hyperdoc

[Martin Rubey]

address@hidden writes:

> Ralf, Bill,
> 
> > Use the tools at hand and build something that can actually compete with
> > current CAS (plural). We fight with the future and haven't even reached the
> > present.
> 
> This isn't a competition, at least in my mind.

You are quite wrong here, I think.  Worldwide there are maybe 1000
Mathematicians interested in writing code, I suspect less.  There are currently
at least four competitors in the market of general purpose case, not counting
SAGE.

MuPAD is so similar to Axiom, that, once it is more commonly adopted, we have
*no* chance of getting any new contributors.  In most contries, the cost of
licencing MuPAD is negligible in comparison with the cost of salaries.

We need (good) contributors now.  I'm working quite hard on that.  But I tell
you, if we are still less than 20 contributors end of next year, I'll probably
stop with Axiom.  (I think we are currently about 10, but I didn't count.)



Martin