OK, I started out on Scilab, but got frustrated! It’s too different to Matlab – which has its flaws, but at least I’m familiar with them. I’m always going to be annoyed by the 1-based indexing of Matlab, but I’ve learned to deal with it.
I’ve been using Matlab for the last 15 years at work, the syntax is built into my fingers. Using // for comments (the Scilab notation) felt bizarre! This despite me being a proficient C++ programmer who uses double-slash comments all the time – it’s just wrong in (what my mind was telling me was still) a Matlab script.
So I’ve turned to Octave for my home-based image-processing work. Octave was aimed at being more of a Matlab-clone from the start, whereas Scilab was designed as an open-source competitor, but doing things in its own way. Familiarity is a powerful motivator when tool selection is concerned!