Hello,
As you know this topic has come up before; see for example
http://www.math.utexas.edu/pipermail/maxima/2002/001419.html
and more recently
http://www.math.utexas.edu/pipermail/maxima/2004/007952.html
I agree that having the same generator on all platforms,
with access to the generator state so sequences can be
started at an arbitrary place, is a good idea. I'm torn,
though -- importing the generator (Mersenne twister)
implemented by CMUCL would be fine, but maybe we should
import all special functions, including the prng, from GSL,
to lessen the crazy quilt aspect of Maxima. Both of these
tactics are suggested in the emails referenced above.
I guess if I had to choose one course of action, I would
say let's import the prng from CMUCL.
For what it's worth,
Robert Dodier
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