As a student, I used Mathematica for years and loved it. But now, I no longer qualify for an educational discount, but still have occasional need (or desire) to do some math -- but the standard price ($2500) is ridiculous, absolutely out of the question for me.
So, now I'm looking for an open-source equivalent. It seems like this would be a good candidate for open-source development, but I can't seem to find anything that's quite what I'm looking for. I'm aware of these:
...but none of them sound as general and powerful as Mathematica. Maxima sounds close, though it's actually a predecessor of Mathematica; I wonder how well it's stood up over time.
Any opinions on these, or anything to consider not on the above list?
Thanks, - Joe
-- "Polywell" fusion -- an approach to nuclear fusion that might actually work. Learn more and discuss via: <http://www.strout.net/info/science/polywell/>
