Albert,
> I wonder: what is the cost of keeping the aliases? I suspect it is
> extremely small (presumably something like (define-symbol-macro
> $ratcoeff $ratcoef)). If so, I think they should be kept:
The cost is increased confusion on the part of the user.
> - There may be user code that relies on some of the aliases. This is
> particularly so for the cases where the documented form (...coef)
> seems less natural than the alias (...coeff).
These aliases are all undocumented. I don't care
if code using undocumented features gets broken.
More generally, Maxima is a mess, and it is more or less
impossible to make progress without stepping on someone's
toes and raining on their parade, etc.
> - Convenience is hardly something to forego without a reason.
If Maxima were sensible and consistent, we wouldn't need
convenience. We are better off addressing the underlying
problems (and you may not see it, but I am trying pretty
hard to do so) than getting out the duct tape and bailing wire.
> Maybe it is sufficient to cut them from the documentation,
> and to move their definition into one place?
FWIW they're not documented, and they're all in one place already.
Aside from the ones I mentioned, there are probably others in other places.
All the best,
Robert