Re: Maxima on debian
Greetings!
Boris Veytsman <boris@plmsc.psu.edu> writes:
> > From: karlheg@bittersweet.inetarena.com (Karl M. Hegbloom)
> > Date: 17 May 2000 22:25:14 -0700
> >
> >
> > I believe there is a Maxima package now, either in Woody or in the
> > works. I have one installed that I grabbed out of `incoming' one
> > day...
>
> Interesting. Does it work well? Here are some problems with the Maxima
> I compiled. I wrote a letter to Schetler, but he did not respond :(((
>
Seems to work pretty well, though there are still some known issues
with the demo() functionality. Also, can't strip the binary with the
latest binutils. The package is currently at
http://incoming.debian.org.
>
> Here is the copy of my letter.
> ==================================================================
> Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 13:21:15 -0400
> From: Boris Veytsman <boris@plmsc.psu.edu>
> To: wfs@fireant.ma.utexas.edu
> Subject: A couple of questions about maxima-5.4
>
> Dear Prof. Schelter:
>
> I just compiled and installed gcl-2.3 and maxima-5.4. They are
> great. Many thanks for your great work. It was nice to hear that after
> all the year DOE saw the light and allowed the GPL-like distribution
> of Maxima code.
>
> I have been using Macsyma from Macsyma, Inc. for several years. I am
> glad to see that the free version is very much comparable to the
> commercial one.
>
> The graphic capabilities are awesome. The mgnuplot program is very
> good: something which I need badly for a long time.
>
> I have a couple of problems and wishlist for enhancements.
>
> I compiled gcl & maxima on a Linux system (glibc-2.1.3, kernel
> 2.2.14). It compiled fine, and `make test' gave succesfull
> results. However, there are still some glitches:
>
> 1. The `make install' command does NOT install mactex.lisp and
> manual.demo in /usr/local/lib/maxima-5.4, I ought to copy them
> manually.
>
OK, I'll check into this.
> 2. The demo command seems to be broken:
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> (C1) demo(array);
>
>
> batching #/usr/local/lib/maxima-5.4/demo/array.dem
> (C2)
> (C2) SUBSCRMAP : TRUE
>
> _
> (D2) /usr/local/lib/maxima-5.4/demo/array.dem
> (C3)
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> It puts me into command line mode again instead of prompting
>
I don't know how to fix this.
> 3. Example command is also broken:
> -------------------------------------------------------
> (C5) example(romberg);
>
>
> /usr/local/lib/maxima-5.4/doc/manual.demo:315:Incorrect syntax:
> Illegal use of delimiter &&
> &&
>
> ^
> (C6)
> -----------------------------------------------------
>
Same here.
> Now, some enhancements I'd like to see -- if it is possible to
> implement.
>
> 1. mactex.lisp outtputs plain TeX. Most people nowadays use LaTeX. The
> main difference is in fractions -- TeX syntax {a\over b} is taken
> over by \frac{a}{b}. Here is a small diff I did to mactex.lisp to
> enable this behavior:
>
> 3d2
> < ;; Changes by Boris Veytsman, May 2000: changedd \over to \frac.
> 479c478
> < ;;(defprop mquotient ("\\over") texsym)
> ---
> > (defprop mquotient ("\\over") texsym)
> 485c484
> < (setq l (tex (cadr x) (append l '("\\frac{")) nil 'mparen 'mparen)
> ---
> > (setq l (tex (cadr x) (append l '("{{")) nil 'mparen 'mparen)
> 487c486
> < r (tex (caddr x) (list "}{") (append '("}")r) 'mparen 'mparen))
> ---
> > r (tex (caddr x) (list "}\\over{") (append '("}}")r) 'mparen 'mparen))
>
>
Perhaps we could have a maxlatex.lisp as well, and leave the original
maxtex.lisp alone?
> 2. Is it possible to enable readline in gcl and maxima? It would be
> great to use arrows to edit the command line and use history.
>
Great idea. Perhaps I'll see if I can make a patch.
> =================================================================
>
>
> Another question: does the Camms' package include mgnuplot -- a really
> cool tcl wrapper for gnuplot? It is included in the upstream Maxima.
>
Yep!
> --
> Good luck
>
> -Boris
> http://www.plmsc.psu.edu/~boris/
>
>
>
Take care,
--
Camm Maguire camm@enhanced.com
==========================================================================
"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens." -- Baha'u'llah
Reply to: