MuPACS

MuPACS

[Nicolas M. Thiery]

	Dear emacs maintainers,

MuPACS (mupacs.sf.net) is an open-source MuPAD mode for the text
editor emacs, written by François Maltey, Olivier Ramare and myself.
Main features:
 - Syntax highlighting and automatic indentation of MuPAD code;
 - Running MuPAD in a buffer with full access to the documentation
   and debugger interaction.

I am not fully happy about its code, but mupacs is now used on a daily
basis by many users, and is fairly mature and stable.

MuPAD (www.mupad.de) is a computer algebra system which is (alas) not
free software. However, mupacs is now also used as a front-end for
running the free computer algebra system GIAC
(http://www-fourier.ujf-grenoble.fr/~parisse/giac.html).

I was wondering if it was possible to include mupacs in the standard
emacs distribution, as this would make life easier for our users, and
especially giac users.

Thanks in advance,

Best regards,
					Nicolas
-- 
Nicolas M. Thiéry "Isil" <nthiery@users.sf.net>
http://Nicolas.Thiery.name/

Re: MuPACS

[Richard M. Stallman]

    MuPACS (mupacs.sf.net) is an open-source MuPAD mode for the text
    editor emacs,

Is it free software?  Most "open source" software is free,
but there are a few exceptions.  (What license does it use?)

    MuPAD (www.mupad.de) is a computer algebra system which is (alas) not
    free software. However, mupacs is now also used as a front-end for
    running the free computer algebra system GIAC
    (http://www-fourier.ujf-grenoble.fr/~parisse/giac.html).

How about if we change the name to inf-giac, and delete the text that
mentions MuPAD?  A project that doesn't respect our freedom does not
deserve our help or cooperation.

Re: MuPACS

[Nicolas M. Thiery]

	Dear Richard,

> Is it free software?  Most "open source" software is free,
> but there are a few exceptions.  (What license does it use?)

GPL.

> How about if we change the name to inf-giac, and delete the text
> that mentions MuPAD?

Ok, up to confirmation by the co-developers of mupacs. I however would
insist on keeping the entry point functions mupad-run and mupad-mode,
in order to ensure backward compatibility and make life simpler for
our users. Also, there are some MuPAD specific details in the
documentation and customization variables that I would prefer to keep.

> A project that doesn't respect our freedom does not deserve our help
> or cooperation.

I know your prose :-)

Best regards,
					Nicolas
-- 
Nicolas M. Thiéry "Isil" <nthiery@users.sf.net>
http://Nicolas.Thiery.name/

Re: MuPACS

[Richard M. Stallman]

    Ok, up to confirmation by the co-developers of mupacs. I however would
    insist on keeping the entry point functions mupad-run and mupad-mode,
    in order to ensure backward compatibility and make life simpler for
    our users. Also, there are some MuPAD specific details in the
    documentation and customization variables that I would prefer to keep.

When it is a matter of installing code in Emacs, I don't want to
make promises about what changes we will make later.  That would
prohibit future maintenance.  However, I might not object to including
those remnants of MuPAD support, if we don't talk about it much.

Re: MuPACS

[Nicolas M. Thiery]

> When it is a matter of installing code in Emacs, I don't want to
> make promises about what changes we will make later.  That would
> prohibit future maintenance.

Sure.

> However, I might not object to including those remnants of MuPAD
> support, if we don't talk about it much.

Ok, thanks.

What's the planned schedule for the next emacs release?

Best regards,
					 Nicolas
-- 
Nicolas M. Thiéry "Isil" <nthiery@users.sf.net>
http://Nicolas.Thiery.name/

Re: MuPACS

[Richard M. Stallman]

    What's the planned schedule for the next emacs release?

Planned schedule???  Ha ha ha hahaha haha ha!

Pretesting will start as soon as some lingering problems are fixed.
So it would be nice to do this soon.