> I'm stuck about one "simple" problem
> I have to keep the "b^2-1" from decomposition to
> "(b-1)*(b+1)" and don't know how to reach this. Is there a
> way to keep the form like
> "b^2-1" or (b+1)^2 from expansion?
I don't understand the question. Maxima will only factor (b^2-1) into
(b-1)*(b+1) if you explicitly call 'factor'. Could you give some more
context for the question, and perhaps an example?