Re: End of the line
Bob Von Dreele ( vondreele@popler.lansce.lanl.gov )
Thu, 29 Jan 1998 10:46:40 -0700
Dear All,
One "rejoinder" is needed to the following:
At 03:12 PM 1/29/98 +0000, you wrote:
>2. When our software is released is our business. It may
> be released when it is bug free and user friendly.
> Are we supposed not to publish until that point ?
> It's the ideas that are important, not the software.
> If someone else cares to implement them, then good luck
> to them.
The sentiment here is understandable however, it is worth noting that the
literature is full of wonderful ideas, techniques, etc. that are roundly
ignored because the authors never supplied the tools to use them to the
rest of the community. Then the folks that make real software (like myself)
have to "reinvent" the technique if they are convinced it is worth their
while despite the lack of any community experience with the method.
Sometimes the "original" paper vanishes from common knowledge - a
subsequent one describing the method and providing the tools is remembered.
I think the history of Rietveld refinement is a prime example of this effect.
Bob Von Dreele