WebMath: iMath: response to Ulrich Kortenkamp

[Stephen M. Hunt]

Solving the math communication problem is partly a client issue - 'how to
compose, read and interact with math?', and partly a server issue - 'how can
I publish and store the pages, send and receive pages, discuss math?'.

When you register for an account you receive account information and a
download address.  iMath provides users with free math communication,
publishing and storage.  Every transaction on imath.net requires
authentication.  We are free, but we are not open to abuse.

iMath is licensed open source (not closed/compiled).  Most other open source
projects also carry licenses which include various types of restrictions.
In the case of iMath it is the affiliates who have access to source.  At the
moment affiliation is an institutional relationship, but we will be making
the affiliation process open to individuals.

As discussed in a previous note about open math infrastructure iMath
requires that you agree to not break interoperability.  The license model
for iMath is the result of months of consideration and consultation.  iMath
is not open to being hijacked by a single vendor and marketed in a way that
would limit the deployment of open math infrastructure.  Vendors may
leverage off iMath infrastructure, but cannot break underlying
interoperability.  We may not have the license exactly right, but it's the
consensus of a lot of discussions, and it will evolve in light of our
mission to provide open math infrastructure.

iMath is currently architected for cross platform delivery.  C/C++/Java are
all portable languages.  You can use libraries or classes or class
frameworks that are specific to a platform.  Only the very outer 'shell' of
iMath ever uses such components, which makes the vast majority of our code
base portable.  Preparing and supporting a release product is a non-trivial
task, it requires substantial resources, especially when it is a new
solution.  This is the main rationale for not releasing other versions at
this time.

Institutions understand our message and our structure and support it.
Occasionally we come across someone who is a maverick and wants to ride the
open territory completely unconstrained.  This type of approach has led to
Web site developers needing to deal with broad interoperability issues which
it is estimated adds 25% to the cost of site development.  In the case of
Linux, Torvaldus retains control over the kernel, this type of model is
similar to where iMath is with respect to licensing.  As with other
consortium efforts which often relate to efforts by institutions to solve
interoperability and base infrastructure issues, things are being held a
little more tightly within the consortium at this early stage.  As our
framework matures you will see things loosen up and individuals able to be
more part of the process.  W3C has also been in this position, although they
would like to provide individual affiliation, they just can't support this
type of relationship at this time.

No other math vendor's client only works with open documents (Web/XML), no
other math vendor's server only implements open protocols, no other math
vendor only uses open languages for the syntax of math, no other math
vendor's algorithms are only derived from public algorithms, and are
inspectable and modifiable dynamically as source, no other math vendor makes
source available at all levels to their users.  iMath provides access to
math at all levels.  It's everything that any single vendor has ever tried
to do, except it is architected to be compatible and integrated with the
mainstream.  And, it works and is available today.

Regards

Steve

Dr Stephen M. Hunt
Director
Internet Math Consortium
steve at imath.org
http://www.imath.org

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-webmath at camel.math.ca [mailto:owner-webmath at camel.math.ca]On
Behalf Of Ulrich Kortenkamp
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2000 3:12 AM
To: webmath at camel.math.ca
Subject: Re: WebMath: Web-based Differential Equations

You claim that one can get iMath for free. On the web page this is
repeated, but the only thing I can get for free is an "account" --
probably this will enable me to download the software, but there is
no way to find out without providing my email address. On the "More
Information" page there is more information, indeed, the account and
the iMath Communicator (hope you won't get in trouble with
Netscape, see
http://tess.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=9hpb2n.6.1 ) are
bundled, but the accompaining license is available only AFTER applying
for the account.

Another interesting bit of information is under "technology". Quote:

Technology: iMath Communicator is an open source project
       which uses open Web standards. The discussions can be viewed
       in any MathML compliant browser, but the authoring of a Web
       math document currently requires iMath Communicator. iMath
       Communicator is built as a cross-platform application for
       Windows, Macintosh and Unix operating systems. Currently,
       only a Windows version has been released, other versions will
       follow.

What do you mean by "open source"? In what way is it open? Where can I
download or review it, what is the license for derived software
products? Do you know what "open source" means??? Probably you don't.

And why do you claim that iMath Communicator is built as a
cross-platform application? What do you mean by that?

Sorry, you probably have to change some of your business strategies in
order to provide "open math education". I doubt that many
institutions will "affiliate" with a company like yours that claims to
be "open" but is more closed than any other software company I know.

Ulli

PS: If you can prove me wrong, I am happy to see your reply on the
list. Show me the way to the sources, put your license on the web, and
create versions of iMath Communicator that run on other platforms than
Windows.

--
Dr. Ulrich Kortenkamp,  Institut für Informatik,  Freie Universität Berlin
Takustr. 9, D-14195 Berlin, Germany * +49-30-83875159, FAX +49-30-83875109
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