Talk:Axiom computer algebra system

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I'm the lead developer on the Axiom project and I clearly know the history and current status of the project.

I'm unsure who you are. Please identify yourself. You are trying to create controversy where there is none and I would like to understand your motive.

If you wish to keep to "the facts" it is perfectly clear that Axiom, FriCAS, and OpenAxiom do not share:

 (1) codebase (check the Makefiles or directory contents)
 (2) websites (check the sourceforge website)
 (3) project leads (Axiom==Tim, FriCAS==Waldek, OpenAxiom==Gaby)
 (4) philosophy (Axiom has a 30 year horizon, FriCAS tries to
                 compete with Mathematica)
 (5) target audience (Axiom is linux only, the others target Windows, etc)
 (6) bug lists (Each project maintains its own bug lists)
 (7) features (Axiom features Firefox-based help, FriCAS features easier
               algebra builds)
 (8) direction (Axiom targets documentation, OpenAxiom targets Boot changes)

In fact, the projects have nothing in common but the fact that FriCAS and OpenAxiom copied the Axiom code this summer. Given that the above eight differences cover everything it could mean to "be a software project" it is clear that they are not the same thing.

In order to address your concerns I'll create Wikipedia pages for FriCAS and OpenAxiom and move your commentary to those pages.

Tim Daly (Axiom Lead Developer) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.23.235.192 (talk) 23:27, 1 January 2008 (UTC)


Update: I have created 2 pages: FriCAS and OpenAxiom and they are linked from this page under "Related Projects". I'm sure my initial description does not do justice to those projects. Feel free to edit them.

I should note that the Wikipedia rules specifically prohibit the use of these pages for controvery. These 2 new pages should properly address the separation of concerns.

Tim Daly (Axiom Lead Developer) —Preceding unsigned comment added by TImPDaly (talk • contribs) 00:36, 2 January 2008 (UTC)


Contents

[edit] Axiom

The Axiom project has been free and open for the since 2001. I have been the lead developer on the project for the whole time. The official Axiom website homepage is http://axiom.axiom-developer.org. The code is hosted at http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/axiom and at http://sourceforge.net/projects/axiom.

Tim Daly (Axiom Lead Developer) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.23.235.192 (talk) 08:09, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

I tried to incorporate the forks. I hope to satisfy also Tim Daly with this compromise, since I think it's quite misleading to mention only his project under the name "axiom".

I was unable to put both websites (Tim's own, together with the website that promotes all three variants) into the infobox. Help appreciated. Mantepse (talk) 12:31, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

The Axiom project is NOT the same project as Fricas or OpenAxiom. They have different codebases, different goals, different sourceforge accounts, and different lead developers. The projects are diverging. The appropriate edit would be to create Fricas and OpenAxiom entries in Wikipedia. This is what was done for the CMUCL/SBCL fork. There are two different wikipedia pages, one for each project. The same thing should happen for the Fricas and OpenAxiom projects. Please do not delete the Axiom homepage link.

Tim Daly —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.199.30.31 (talk) 20:32, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Forks

I'm not sure whether this article should mention that axiom currently really consists of three projects (axiom, open-axiom and fricas), differing in goals and ways how to achieve them. For the user, there is only little difference, since bug fixes are shared, and features of one implementation are ported to the other without much difficulty. Mantepse (talk) 07:59, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] External Links

Somebody added a link to the Open-Axiom Homepage. I think that this is misleading, therefore I reverted the change. The wiki Axiom Homepage hosts information for the whole family of axiom implementations, and is a safe resource, I'd say. Mantepse (talk) 07:59, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Risch algorith implementation.

Maybe it's good to say a few more words about Risch algorith implementation in Axiom. As far as I understand, the main difference between Axiom and other products is that the Asiom's "no" is fair (one may be sure that the input's antiderivative, if exist, can be written using algebraic functions). Probably it's a good idea to give samples with answers "no" and "error". —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gaz v pol (talk • contribs) 18:40, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

When I designed the page I wanted to keep things concise, so I only mentioned this feature. If you want to put in examples, you can take the one from [Risch algorithm], and, as a "failed" example,
(1) -> integrate(exp(x^2), x)

           x     2
         ++    %L
   (1)   |   %e   d%L
        ++
                                          Type: Union(Expression Integer,...)
Especially in the FriCAS fork (which I am mainly working for), there are some other features not found in any other CAS, but I didn't want to make the page into an advertisement. I must admit that I'm also very unhappy that Tim Daly decided that his project is the only rightful bearer of the name Axiom (and therefore modified webpage etc.), so I won't put much more effort into this page, unless this changes. A more neutral mind would be needed to improve the page, I guess. Mantepse (talk) 10:23, 26 March 2008 (UTC)