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by yjftsjthsd-h 1666 days ago
Reason's it's "like" FOSS:

> You can use it for free

...Within certain restrictions. Also, lots of proprietary stuff is available for free or close enough.

> You can view the source code

There's actually sort of fair, although it only extends to the functions in the language; "Older or core functions written in C are not viewable this way", and I doubt this extends to the underlying engine.

> You can modify it

Again, provided you stay in the "userspace" parts and don't want to share your changes.

> You can contribute

... stuff that you built in Wolfram, but "we don’t really believe in user contributions to the core language".

> There is a supportive (and supported) community

https://community.oracle.com/hub/

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home

Forgive me if I fail to be impressed.

> There is active development

Until there isn't, at which point the single point of failure suddenly does matter. Also, not much of a standard; IBM still develops Db2, y'know.

1 comments

> IBM still develops Db2, y'know.

Because this development is sponsored by old customers; I haven't heard about anyone choosing DB2 for a new project.

Sure? Is Wolfram going to be developed if there's no money in it? (I mean, maybe, purely as a point of pride for Wolfram the man, but I certainly wouldn't depend on it)