[Maxima] New Maxima user has problem

[Raymond Toy (RT/EUS)]

Bob Baker wrote:
> Well, I tried running Maxima directly in a command window.  I gave the 
> commands and got exactly the same reply.  So I don't think Euler can be 
> blamed for it.  Did you try these commands to see what happens on your 
> system?

Yes, I did.  That's how I knew it was asking a question.  Doesn't it ask 
you?  Did it run for a long time before the error message?  It runs for 
quite a while, but I stopped it after a bit.

What version are you using?

>  
> I don't know how to determine if the integral is too complicated for 
> Maxima.  (Maybe it is, if it always gives errors, but a more informative 
> error message would be nice.)  What I do know is (1) Mathematica handles 

Yes, a better error message would be better.

> it and gives symbolic results; (2) Mathematica is too expensive for me.

That Mathematica can do it only means that there's some algorithm that 
Mathematica knows to produce the result.  It, unfortunately, doesn't 
mean that Maxima can do it. :-(

Ray