[ In a private mail, Sheldon suggests trying a new version of maxima and
compiling from source, both reasonable suggestions]
Dear Sheldon;
Thanks for the suggestions.
5.15.0 has the same problem.
My main goal here is not to compile maxima for my own use, but rather
to make (a working version) available as part of Debian.
For various reasons, it is easier to do that without upgrading the upstream
version.
David