>>>>> "Wolfgang" == Wolfgang Jenkner <wjenkner@inode.at> writes:
Wolfgang> I don't think that it makes sense to boldly change the default
Wolfgang> behaviour after thirty years or so because of anyone's taste and
Wolfgang> habits (it has been mentioned that this would imply changing the
Wolfgang> documentation; it would also mean typing 3 or 4 characters instead of
Wolfgang> one), especially since it is so simple for the user to change things.
Wolfgang> Besides, I think that it is important and more gratifying for the user
Wolfgang> to learn how to change things. So, inspired by Emacs, I'd propose to
Wolfgang> simply write a tutorial.dem and to mention in the Maxima banner
Wolfgang> something like `Type demo("tutorial"); etc.' The point is that
Wolfgang> instead of showing off Maxima's mathematical capabilities in such a
Wolfgang> tutorial (which are taken for granted, anyway) we should help people
Wolfgang> to get the hang of it.
I like this solution best. Using %in, %out is ok, but more typing,
and I tend to recall D lines quite often.
This tutorial could also mention other things like setting line width,
2D display, ? for help, :lisp to enter lisp, how to turn the Lisp
debugger on, etc. I always forget how to turn the lisp debugger on
because you need to set *debugger-hook* from the maxima top-level, not
after running to_lisp(). I guess there should be a way to restore the
default *debugger-hook* too.
Ray