Re: [Axiom-developer] Re: [fricas-devel] Installation directory

[Martin Rubey]

root <address@hidden> writes:

> It should be possible to have both systems installed, ala CMUCL and SBCL,
> even though they do the same things; if only for the reason that it would
> make it possible to compare results of system changes. Why should the user
> suddenly lose all of their Fricas work (or Axiom work) when they install the
> other system?

But they wouldn't!  Why would you think that any of your work was lost when you
install axiom after having installed friCAS?  The only difference is, if the
names wouldn't change, they wouldn't need to adjust paths they currently don't
even know about.

> It would be trivial to ship a fricas.el that got installed properly.
> Maintaining a single symbol in a non-algebra file is hardly a reason to
> maintain a collision between the systems.

If it were a single symbol, ok.  But it's not.  What about the wikimedia plugin
for axiom?  What about the TeXmacs interface?  Do you really want to maintain

axiom.el, fricas.el, openaxiom.el,
axiom.tm, fricas.tm, openaxiom.tm
axiom.php, fricas.php, openaxiom.php?

> We've been working cooperatively (eg, Waldek has sent Axiom patches, I've
> sent )help files to Fricas) and I expect that to continue.

It seems to me that such a change would rather be a hindrance to cooperation
than making cooperation easier.  It's quite the same with IssueTracker.

Really, if this mess stays the same, it will drive me mad.  Already I have to
include 3 email lists if I want to say something all axioms should care about,
which is the case most of the time, since I'm working only on the algebra
level.  Cooperation in this manner is for me such a nuisance, that I'd rather
stop it.

> As a mathematician I'd expect that you understand that different things
> should have different names.

In fact, as a mathematician, I often use the same symbol for different things,
and let context decide.  I do so as an axiom programmer, too.  For example,
"eval" can refer to roughly 38 operations, some even having different number of
arguments.

I cannot understand why you want different names for the same thing!

Martin