Our goal is to provide a free computer package to construct, view
and analyse atomic structures, as powerful and simple to use as
possible.
We believe that open societies, where knowledge is shared and
discussed, promote innovation and justice, freedom and intelligence,
and ultimately better individuals and stronger economies. From
Galileu, Descartes and Newton, to Darwin, Faraday and Einstein,
the development of Science has been always based in the open
discussion, in the unrestricted exchange of information. Unfortunately,
recent changes in the trends governing intellectual and industrial
knowledge have modified considerably this panorama, and knowledge
is becoming more and more something that can be owned and
restricted from the general public.
We are thus developing GAMGI - General Atomistic Modelling Graphic
Interface, a computer package that can be inspected, modified,
distributed and even included in other programs, according to
the terms of the
GPL license. Physical Science students can investigate the code
to study the mathematical, physical and chemical algorithms
implemented in GAMGI. Computer Science students can study the code
to learn how to design the architecture, the data infrastructure,
and the flux of information of a big application, involving very
different technologies. As the code is free, GAMGI can be installed
in any computer, can be recompiled when the operating system changes,
can be copied as many times as wished, can be immediately investigated
and hopefully corrected when bugs are found. Users should see GAMGI
as a common project, something that belongs to the whole community,
to which they are invited to contribute, if they wish so.
GAMGI aims to be useful for: 1) the scientific community working
in Atomistic Modelling, that needs a graphic interface to build
input data and to view and analyse output data, calculated with
Ab-Initio and Molecular Mechanics programs; 2) the scientific
community at large, studying Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science,
Geology, etc., that needs a graphic interface to view and analyse
atomic structural information and to prepare images for presentations
in classes and seminars; 3) teaching chemistry and physics in
secondary schools and universities, even inviting students to install
and run GAMGI at home; 4) science promotion, in schools, exhibitions
and science museums.