1.1 Why open-source?

We have been developing and using this code for a long time. At some point we decided to make it open-source in order to achieve three objectives: Firstly, to increase the number of users of the code. This can also be achieved by making it free-ware. However, in order to persuade others to use and thus trust the code, it is helpful that anyone can see the code. This is our second objective: transparency. All too often is the description of a numerical simulation in an academic publication no more than a few lines in the methods section. However, details matter and it should be clear what is actually being calculated in order to appreciate—or replicate!—the results. Lastly, at some point, there may even be other researchers who would like to contribute to the code itself.

Open-source does not mean that anything goes: This project is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License as stipulated in the license files. When in doubt, check the license.