[sdpd] Re: SDPD stagnation

["Dr. Holger Putz" <holger.putz...@gmx.de>]

I agree with Kenneth concerning the "download culture" (and I have to admit
that I'm not much better concerning this subject...) However, from my
personal experience the origin for this behaviour quite often lies in
programs whose development has been stopped once the author was able to use
it successfully by himself. Few people take (or have...) the time to develop
their programs beyond this stage. If you have to publish some papers for
your next proposal you cannot worry a lot about things like GUI, online-help
or comprehensive documentation.
This is exactly the point where I see the advantage of commercial
programs...they allow a lot more people (and not just a few experts) to use
new technologies for their personal needs. If you work on new drugs,
pigments or catalysts, you probably don't have the time (or don't want to
invest so much of it) to learn how to solve their crystal structure in
addition to your daily work. Thus, I think that programs like Dash and
Endeavour will bring the possibility to solve structures from powder to a
lot more people than today.

Concerning Armel LeBail's question about the non-GUI version of Endeavour:
We do not intend to provide a free non-GUI version once the full program is
available. However, since the program will be sold as a site license (i.e.
for whole institutes), we think that even most scientific users will be able
to afford it.

Best wishes
Holger