On broken wheels and user contributed code

I would like to have a forum of some kind for user contributed code, the list is not good for feedback. I have not received a single 
email of feedback on what I have been doing in my pw package.  That makes it hard to find any bugs when you are "on your own".

Rich


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ziga Lenarcic" <ziga.lenarcic at gmail.com>
To: "Maxima mailing list" <maxima at math.utexas.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 4:57 AM
Subject: Re: [Maxima] On broken wheels and user contributed code


I think a phpBB board would be great - for users and developers. Not
all people like mailing lists (I haven't used one before Maxima's). A
'Maxima forum' would be great.

Regarding broken wheels:

I don't see what's the problem including my $table. There are basicly
these choices:
1) Don't include $table in any way, Maxima remains as it is (makelist
() for another 30 years).
2) Include $table (other names are possible) and state in
documentation that create_list and makelist are obsolete, but don't
remove them.
3) ?

Even Mathematica does nr. 2. They have replaced function Random[]
with functions RandomReal[] and RandomInteger[], to provide improved
interface to random numbers and more features. They have a much
larger userbase (and much more dependant on compatibility), but they
still replace/ improve upon such basic functions by introducing new.

So I really don't see where is the problem with table(). Makelist and
create_list are used in current programs, so they mustn't be changed.
How to improve Maxima's list making capabilities? The only way I see
- a new function. And the function is already written (if it doesn't
meet some critearia, there are options to change it), I can also
write documentation... Exactly what's the problem?

It's obvious I assume I'm in no position to decide or import
something in Maxima src - but the problem is, nobody even tells me
what to do with my contribution (except forking my own Maxima :)).

The same situation is with the improvements to $flatten and $random I
suggested. I got no clear answer (what needs to be done or what is
wrong with my proposal).

Regards,
Ziga Lenarcic


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