There has been considerable confusion about the current status of Maxima
and plans for future releases. In an effort to make the situation
clearer for everyone (even myself!), I would like to put the plan up on
our web pages. I have attached my initial draft to this message. There
is an accompanying figure that I have already uploaded to sourceforge:
<http://maxima.sourceforge.net/maxima-release-map.png>;.
The release plan will always be a work in progress. Please comment as
you like.
--Jim
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Note: There will be *no* stable release based on 5.6 beta. The first
new stable release will be 6.0.0.
Version numbering nomenclature: (major).(minor).(subminor)
Development releases
-Will have odd minor version numbers
-May be released with known bugs.
-Interfaces may change between subminor releases.
-Features may vary between subminor releases.
Stable releases
-Will have even minor version numbers
-If at all possible, stable releases will have no known
bugs when released.
-Subminor releases will be released primarily for bug fixes.
Plans for upcoming releases. These plans should not be considered
final. Suggestions are welcome.
Before 5.9.0
-Comb through mailing list for missed fixes
-Make Maxima pass all current tests with at least
-Platforms
-Linux
-Lisp implementations
-GCL
-CMUCL
-Clisp
-Get xmaxima working
Before 5.9.1
-The Great Source Downcasing
Before 5.9.2
-Test/fix share packages
Before 6.0.0 (and after 5.9.0)
-Finalize directory structure
-Packaging
-RedHat Linux
-Debian Linux
-Windows
-More tests for test suite
-Fix, or at least address, all bugs listed in Sourceforge system
During 6.1.X series
-Work on numerical routines
-GSL vs Fortran to Lisp, etc.
-New GUI work
-Improved Plotting