I've been told the Anaconda distribution (https://store.continuum.io/cshop/anaconda/) of Python can ease some of the pain there. The fact that I have to direct you to a "store" to download it does give me pause, however, even if the distribution is actually free.
Anaconda is open source, free and will always be. The founders of our company (and the rest of us) have a long history of being good open source citizens. There are enhanced versions of Anaconda that include proprietary code that we charge for. The base distribution (which includes Pandas, SciPy, NumPy...) has and will always be free.
Yes, we are a company and do sell things, but our commitment to open source is backed by many, many years of significant contributions to the community. We give as much away as we can, and sell to those who need more.
While you certainly buy more from us, Anaconda itself will always be free as long as we can continue to make it.
Thank you for that. And thank you for your contributions. My point about the store was more aesthetic. If you are ideological about the openness of your tool chain (and I start edging that way the closer things get to science), then the "exit through the gift shop" is mildly off-putting. I say mildly, because it still doesn't prevent me from recommending it over other alternatives. I also understand that your paid products add value (and in the case of MKL, aren't yours to open-sourcify anyway).
The non-store link definitely feels more open-sourcey. I'll be sure to send people that way. Again, I didn't want to imply that you all were bad open source stewards.
