> if people are going to start creating custom packages for
> Maxima, this is likely to be a feature that will be of
> interest to at least some of them.
Whenever I hear a request for a new feature, the first thing I want to
know is *why* people want it. Because often it turns out that it
reflects a broader design issue, which could better be handled some
other way. For example, currently there is no such thing in Maxima as a
package with its own private information. There is no way to declare
some functions or variables "internal" and some "external". Is that
part of the motivation for protected variables? -- to avoid accidental
stomping on private information?
There is no such thing as persistent local state (own variables or
object state).
So instead of asking for features, I'd prefer it if people would discuss
the problem they are facing. If they can propose mechanisms (features)
for addressing those problems, that is good, too. But those only make
sense in the context of the original problem.
-s