Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!sdd.hp.com!caen!uwm.edu!linac!att!ucbvax!ucdavis!caldwr!rfinch
From: rfinch@caldwr.water.ca.gov (Ralph Finch)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.idl-pvwave
Subject: Re: Relationship between IDL and PVWAVE
Message-ID: <288@venice.water.ca.gov>
Date: 3 May 91 14:39:53 GMT
References: <12802@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> <1991May3.032845.24972@aero.org>
Organization: Calif. Dept. of Water Resources, Sac.
Lines: 36

In article <1991May3.032845.24972@aero.org> plonski@Aero.org (Mike Plonski) writes:
. . .

>According to the latest IDL NEWSLETTER - SPRING 1991, IDL terminated
>their licensing agreement with PV-Wave as of Sept. 1990 and the
>products are now free to diverge.

Oh no.  We are stuck on the PV-Wave track (with 4 expensive licenses)
so it would be difficult to switch back to IDL.

I am frankly not happy with PVI's handling of their version of IDL.
It costs a lot more than IDL and any significant additions they have
added, such as Widgets or Point-and-Click, cost yet extra!  Besides
which PVI seems hung up on Sunview interfaces.  I'd sure like to see
some work done with Openwindows.
. . .

> In IDL's newletter, they also
>indicate that they are working on a DOS version of IDL and a network
>floating license.
>IDL Ver 2.1 also has a Statistics Package and some
>mapping and gridding routines also with a simple coastline database.

The only one of these that PV-Wave has is the floating license, which
really benefits PVI, not the customer.

PVI: are you listening?  How about statistics, DOS, and so on?  How
about providing *real* value for all the extra $$$'s your customers
are paying?  How about at *least* telling your customers where you are
headed, especially with the split that just took place.  I would
really rather hear about these things from you, rather than from the
Usenet (thank God for the net though).
-- 
Ralph Finch			916-445-0088
rfinch@water.ca.gov		...ucbvax!ucdavis!caldwr!rfinch
Any opinions expressed are my own; they do not represent the DWR