Which Enthought EPD distribution should I use?

Question

I'm currently an undergrad Electrical Engineering student. I've been using MATLab for a while, but have grown weary of its syntax and subtleties. I've been trying to find an alternative, and after much searching have found Enthought. Since I'm a student, I can install the academic version of EPD; but, looking at the modules it contains, I'm wondering if I'd really need everything I'd get with that distribution. My question is, would EPDFree suffice for undergraduate study? Or am I better off with the academic version? In either case, should I install the libraries in the distribution separately (i.e. without installing EPD) if I can? Or, should I just go with EPD distribution? I primarily use the Ubuntu Linux distribution if that helps. Thanks to all in advance!

Answer 1

The ultimate answer mainly depends on your specific needs. EPD is really neat and it contains a lot of packages. I doubt that you'll use all of them. During your studies you will most probably use Numpy, Scipy, Matplotlib and ipython for matrix manipulations, solving linear systems, visualisation etc. Installing these packages separately on Ubuntu (with aptitude for example) is as effortless as installing EPD.

I would say that start by installing these packages separately from the Ubuntu repository, try them out, learn more about them, try to get comfortable in the environment. As your studies evolve you'll see what tools you lack, you need more and you can reconsider using EPD.

Answer 2

Enthought now provides the full EPD (not just the free EPD) to all academics. All you need is an EDU mail address. You can sign up at http://www.enthought.com/products/edudownload.php and you will receive a username/password that allows you to install and upgrade packages easily, just like a paid subscriber.