August 12, 2026
Can it run drama?
Show HN: Woxi - Open-source Mathematica / Wolfram Language reimplementation
Math nerds are obsessed, but the comments turned it into an open-source cage match
TLDR: Woxi is an open-source attempt to recreate Wolfram’s math language in Rust, with browser, notebook, and command-line tools that run locally. The community split fast: some loved the accessibility and fresh interest it could spark, while others groaned, “not another open-source reimplementation.”
A new Show HN post introduced Woxi, an open-source remake of the Wolfram Language, the math-heavy tool behind fancy graphs, notebooks, and symbolic problem solving. The pitch is pretty crowd-pleasing: it runs locally in your browser, sends no data anywhere, and comes with everything from a playground to a command-line app, Jupyter support, and even its own notebook editor. In plain English: it’s trying to bring a pricey, locked-down math world into a more open and accessible one.
But the real fireworks were in the comments. One early reply instantly hit the thread with the internet’s favorite move: “this was posted 6 months ago”. Classic comment-section hall monitor energy. Then the debate escalated when one user basically said, why are open-source people always rebuilding someone else’s stuff instead of inventing something new? That hot take practically begged for a pile-on. And sure enough, another commenter fired back with the pro-remake argument: rebuilding mature tools matters, because it makes them easier to use in new places and new workflows.
There was also some pure nerd bait: one commenter popped in with “Can it run Rubi?”, a hyper-specific challenge that reads like the math-programming version of but can it run Doom? Meanwhile, a newcomer to the Wolfram world said Woxi actually got them interested after trying several competing math tools, which is maybe the biggest compliment of all. So yes, Woxi showed off graphs and notebooks — but the comments turned it into a spicy little referendum on what open source is even for
Key Points
- •Woxi is an open-source Wolfram Language interpreter implemented in Rust.
- •The article states that Woxi’s browser examples run locally and send no data anywhere.
- •The same Woxi interpreter powers multiple front ends, including a playground, CLI, Jupyter kernel, and native notebook editor.
- •The command-line tool supports `woxi eval`, direct execution of `.wls` scripts, and shebang interpreter usage.
- •Woxi Studio supports cell-based notebook editing, inline graphics, and export to `.ipynb`, Markdown, LaTeX, Typst, and PDF.