matrix and vector operations



Hi, I'm new to the list.  I recently started using Maxima as an open 
source replacement for Mathematica.  I am especially pleased with its 
Texmacs interface.

Right now I am trying to work with symbolic matrices and vectors.  So 
far it seems best to use the list structure for vectors and to create 
matrices with "matrix(list1,...)" or "genmatrix".  I was glad to find 
transpose, mattrace, and the "." operator, but many other desired 
functions are missing, e.g. outerproduct and crossproduct.  I have 
started to implement these functions myself, which is a good way for me 
to learn maxima programming.  But I'm wondering if someone else has 
already done this and made his functions available?  The "vect" package 
doesn't seem what I want, and I'm concerned about: "Warning: The VECT 
package declares "." to be a commutative operator."

Thanks,
Jonathan