Your message dated Sat, 9 May 2026 22:07:21 +0200
with message-id <[email protected]>
and subject line maxima-doc: Maxima help command ("? <function>") fails with
"missing info file" despite maxima-doc installed
has caused the Debian Bug report #1135641,
regarding maxima-doc: Maxima help command ("? <function>") fails with "missing
info file" despite maxima-doc installed
to be marked as done.
This means that you claim that the problem has been dealt with.
If this is not the case it is now your responsibility to reopen the
Bug report if necessary, and/or fix the problem forthwith.
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--
1135641: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1135641
Debian Bug Tracking System
Contact [email protected] with problems
--- Begin Message ---
Package: maxima-doc
Version: 5.47.0-7
Severity: normal
Dear Maintainer,
*Problem Description*
After installing |maxima| and |maxima-doc| on Debian 13 (Trixie), the
built-in help system fails to load documentation for any function (e.g.,
|factor|, |integrate|). When running |? factor| in the Maxima, the
following error is displayed:
|Cannot find documentation for `factor': missing info file
/usr/share/doc/maxima/info/./maxima.info-1 |
*Root Cause*
1. *Incorrect Documentation Path*: Maxima expects info documentation
files in |/usr/share/doc/maxima/info/|, but the |maxima-doc| package
installs them to |/usr/share/info/| (standard Debian info file
location).
2.
*Expected Behavior*
The help command should load the documentation for |factor| (and other
functions) without errors when |maxima-doc| is installed.
*Workaround*
Manually create symlinks from the actual info file location to Maxima’s
expected path:||
|sudo ln -s /usr/share/info/maxima.info* /usr/share/doc/maxima/info/ |
After applying this workaround, |? factor| correctly loads the
documentation.
*Proposed Fixes (for Packaging)*
1. Update the |maxima-doc| package to either:
* Install info files directly to |/usr/share/doc/maxima/info/|
(align with Maxima’s expected path), or
* Create symlinks from |/usr/share/info/maxima.info*| to
|/usr/share/doc/maxima/info/| during package installation.
* This issue is specific to Debian’s packaging of |maxima-doc|, not
the upstream Maxima source code (tested upstream binaries work
correctly with bundled documentation).
* Checked newer versions in |testing| (5.49.0+dsfg-4) and |unstable|
(5.49.0+dsfg-4) – the packaging structure appears unchanged, so the
bug likely persists there.
Thank you for your attention to this minor but usability-impacting issue.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 13.4
APT prefers stable-updates
APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'stable-security'), (500,
'stable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 6.12.85+deb13-amd64 (SMP w/8 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Kernel taint flags: TAINT_WARN
Locale: LANG=zh_CN.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=zh_CN.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8),
LANGUAGE=zh_CN:zh
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled
Versions of packages maxima-doc depends on:
ii tex-common 6.19
maxima-doc recommends no packages.
maxima-doc suggests no packages.
-- debconf-show failed
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Hello popkc, thanks for your report.
You claimed:
* Checked newer versions in |testing| (5.49.0+dsfg-4) and |unstable|
(5.49.0+dsfg-4) – the packaging structure appears unchanged, so the
bug likely persists there.
Actually this issue was recently fixed in Forky/Sid.
You can check it in an uptodate Forky/Sid environment.
Best wishes,
Jerome
--
Jerome BENOIT | calculus+at-rezozer^dot*net
https://qa.debian.org/[email protected]
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--- End Message ---
