A relatively minor thing, but something that annoys me every time I read
it. I think some of our intro text could be improved. Currently, it reads
(in part):
Maxima is a descendant of Macsyma, the legendary computer algebra system
developed in the late 1960s at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It
is the only system based on that effort still publicly available and with an
active user community, thanks to its open source nature. Macsyma was
revolutionary in its day, and many later systems, such as Maple and
Mathematica, were inspired by it.
The Maxima branch of Macsyma was maintained by William Schelter from 1982
until he passed away in 2001. In 1998 he obtained permission to release the
source code under the GNU General Public License (GPL). It was his efforts
and skill which have made the survival of Maxima possible, and we are very
grateful to him for volunteering his time and expert knowledge to keep the
original DOE Macsyma code alive and well. Since his passing a group of users
and developers has formed to bring Maxima to a wider audience.
e.g.:
Maxima is the open-source release of Macsyma, the legendary computer algebra
system developed in 1967-1982 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The original Macsyma inspired many other systems, including the commercial
Maple and Mathematica, and they retain a strong family resemblance. Maxima
is the only publicly-available Macsyma descendent with an active user
community, which continues to maintain and extend it.
Maxima was maintained by William
Schelter<http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/2004-2005/memorials/schelter/schelter.html>from
1982 until his death in 2001. In 1998, he obtained permission to
release the source code under the GNU General Public License (GPL). We thank
him for his work, which made the survival of Maxima possible.
Comments?
-s