Brief History of Free Statistical Software
Some of the free software packages are from governmental or NGO organizations, such as Epi Info, from CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and IDAMS from UNESCO. Some other software packages are from smaller or independent organizations or universities, such as Instat or Irristat. Two other packages, R, and are being developed as part of the by a large group of individuals, many of them volunteers, all over the world. These packages are notable in that it is not just open source but also free software in the same sense that material written on Wikipedia is free: others can edit, use, and redistribute at will.
A large proportion of free statistical software packages, however, are from individuals. Some of these software packages from individuals include Easyreg, MicrOsiris, OpenStat, PSPP, SOFA, and Zelig.
At least one package, WinIDAMS, was developed for the purposes of making key technologies available to those who could not otherwise afford them, to empower development. OpenStat and Instat were developed as teaching aids. Other packages were developed for specific purposes but can be more generally used. Examples are Irristat, developed for agricultural analysis, and Epi Info, developed for public health. Several of the packages, PSPP, R and Osiris don't appear to give any statements about why they were developed, other than just general use for statistical analysis.
These free software packages have been used in a number of scholarly publications. For example, OpenStat was used in a research letter to JAMA and in several published studies. Irristat is used in an agricultural report, EasyReg is listed or used in several papers, EpiInfo was also used in several papers, R was used in a number of papers and WinIdams was used in other papers.
While Microsiris doesn't appear to be used in academic research, the author of the program was one of the original authors of OSIRIS, which was the starting program from which WinIdams was developed. The author of Microsiris also has also contributed or co-contributed several components to WinIdams.
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