Raymond Toy wrote:
> I notice that ecl uses asdf to build maxima.
Yes.
> Is there a reason why
> defsystem isn't used?
>
Yes. Short version: because I couldn't figure out how to build Maxima
with defsystem and an asdf solution was presented to me.
Long version: For all other lisps, we create a maxima image through
defsystem by compiling, loading and then dumping the resulting image.
Ecl doesn't have a "dump image" concept, it compiles an application by
linking together object files in some manner the details of which I have
not tried to understand. Ecl comes with a customized asdf that builds
applications with a single command.
I think that having seperate defsystem and asdf descriptions of Maxima
will be a problem in the long run, but I don't know how to get a
defsystem build working with ecl. My understanding of the ecl build
process is probably completely confused because I worked on the problem
for a long time using a version of ecl that had a bug on my platform
that kept maxima from building even in the ways it is supposed to work.
I was hoping that someone else would straighten it all out, eventually.
> Because of this, defsystem isn't loaded with ecl and then you can't
> build, for example, lapack, because it assumes defsystem is available.
>
*If* defsystem is working properly with ecl, defsystem could be included
as a component of maxima in the asdf build. That would be the path of
least resistance.
--Jim