Re: [Gretl-devel] Signalling
On Tue, 8 Jan 2013, Talha Yalta wrote:
On Tue, Jan 8, 2013 at 4:10 PM, Logan Kelly
<logan.kelly(a)uwrf.edu> wrote:
> While I strongly believe that usability is currently the most
> imperative issue for Gretl (though not necessarily the most
> important), I do not agree with Dr. Yalta that Hansel is a
> mistake. I could not do the research I do with a GUI based stats
> package. It would take hours. R is a fine package, so is Ox and
> Matlab, etc. I use each, but Gretl's matrix programing and
> scripting language is nothing to sneeze at and like each of the
> others is a great tools for the jobs it does.
OK, I agree. Hansl is so good that it is hard to believe that just one
person developed it (with some limited help from a small community of
people).
I have to say: not one but two-plus. At present I'm the only one who
codes the gretl GUI, but where the development of hansl is concerned
Jack is an equal partner (and a few others have made useful
contributions). To expand on this just a little: Jack and I have had
summer working sessions in Ancona several times over the last 7
years. Without Jack's contribution -- both at those sessions and
throughout the year -- hansl (and gretl more generally) would have
made nothing like the progress we've seen over that period. And
without Jack's stimulus, I suspect my own interest might have waned
some time ago.
The fact remains that gretl has always been pretty much a one
man operation and it is not a good use of resources to undertake the
colossal task of developing a matrix programing and scripting
language, especially when there is already excellent free
alternatives.
The trouble is that the "resources" in question have their own
preferences, and they like working on hansl. It would not be
attractive to me to devote myself to "perfecting" the GUI for
teaching purposes -- though I'm happy to spend some of my time on
fixing/improving specific aspects of the GUI. In addition, I think
that producing a "nice teaching GUI" and nothing more is a dead end.
Those who teach econometrics will in general want their students to
use software that they can continue to use in their professional
lives.
Allin has been working with great dedication on gretl for about 14
years now. That is a long time. What will happen when he eventually
wants to step back? He probably wants to do that now but cannot.
Actually, not so. There will come a time, of course, but right now
working on gretl + hansl is still something I like doing and want to
continue doing.
Allin