Nexus, crystallographic computing all around the world.

Crystallographic Nexus CD-ROMs, containing a range of free crystallographic software for single-crystal and powder diffraction available on the Internet, have been distributed on request since 1996. The free CD is made in the form of a ;virtual Internet' with the main intent of benefiting crystallographers with inadequate Internet access. The IUCr funds an annual/biennial update which is distributed to known previous recipients.

Busting out of crystallography's Sisyphean prison: from pencil and paper to structure solving at the press of a button: past, present and future of crystallographic software development, maintenance and distribution.

The history of crystallographic computing and use of crystallographic software is one which traces the escape from the drudgery of manual human calculations to a world where the user delegates most of the travail to electronic computers. In practice, this involves practising crystallographers communicating their thoughts to the crystallographic program authors, in the hope that new procedures will be implemented within their software. Against this background, the development of small-molecule single-crystal and powder diffraction software is traced.