Differences between Maxima and Macsyma and GPL vs. commercial version

seberino@spawar.navy.mil wrote:
> Richard,
> 
> Hello! I hope all is well with you.
> Can I ask you a few questions about Maxima?
> 
> A few months ago I talked with you about fanciful
> notions of making a MockMMA type program.  I'm starting
> to think it would be better to just learn to love
> Maxima and forget about Mathematica.
> 
> I am utterly amazed at the history of Macsyma/Maxima.
> The fact that it is written in Common Lisp
> and GPL'd is truly astounding to me.
> 
> Here are my questions if you don't mind....
> 
> (1) What is difference between Macsyma and Maxima??
> I think Maxima is a GPL'd port to Common Lisp that
> competes with other forks of the 30+ year old code right?

The fork happened about 1982.
> 


> And, you mentioned that the commercial version of Maxima
> added some extras.

It also fixed bugs.

> 
> What is are most valuable things
> *missing* from the GPL'd version of Maxima?
There are differing opinions on this.  The most obvious
difference is the front end, but whole sections of the
program were re-written, and many new, general "less
central" commands were added.

> Does the open source version keep up pretty much?

That's hard to answer.  For some people using some
parts of the code they are indistinguishable.  Other
parts (e.g. Macsyma includes a lot of Matlab, including
its syntax), they are quite distinct.

> 
> In a nutshell, I'm trying to get a feel for how good
> the GPL'd version of Maxima is relative to the commercial
> cousins and competitors in the forest.

It depends on what you are trying to do.

> 
> (2) If Macsyma/Maxima is/was the oldest and greatest,
> then how come Mathematica gets all the press and attention?

1. Very good marketing by Stephen Wolfram. (Boy genius revolutionizes
mathematics, says physicists and NY Times reporter)
2. Slick design of front end.
3. Timing.



> Is this another case of slick GUIs and marketing winning
> over quality like M$ Windows vs. Linux???

Perhaps, but I think Wolfram's personality and reputation
helped.

> 
> Depending on how you answer (1), I believe we have a serious
> open source product here that should get more attention.
> 
> We don't want youngsters like me naively thinking Mathematica
> is the one and only choice for symbolic stuff anymore.
> 
> I value your feedback.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Chris
> 
> 
> 
>