[Matrix-SIG] Multipack is growing....

[Paul F. Dubois]

----- Original Message -----
From: Travis Oliphant <Oliphant.Travis@mayo.edu>
To: <matrix-sig@python.org>
Sent: Monday, June 07, 1999 12:47 PM
Subject: [Matrix-SIG] Multipack is growing....


>
> Eventually I could see placing LinearAlgebra, RandomArray, and FFT all
> under the Multipack umbrella and leaving Numeric to hold the objects
> themselves with their methods.  This is a very tentative eventually, of
> course, and for now isn't worth the effort.
>

Actually, I think this is a very good idea. Strip the standard Numerical
distribution down to the basics and have all the application code elsewhere.
The truth is that there are several problems with the current setup. For one
thing, there are competing choices for some of these packages, such as
random numbers. They should all be on an even footing. For another, I lack
the resources to maintain and test this stuff; with David's help we are
managing to keep our head above water on the core parts but that's it.

The rationale for the present setup is that people could get everything in
one go and have a really usefull set of functions out of the box. But the
fact is that just the core itself is quite capable and useful.

While I'm on the subject of NumPy, I wondered if anyone has looked into the
question of making numerical arrays use ExtensionObject.h? Would this be
hard? I know it would be useful.