Dear Gap-forum,

Frank Celler, who is not only one of those here who know about all the
technicalities of GAP and even remember which have been explained and
discussed in the GAP-forum not so long ago, but also is a kind soul
and tries to give answers by return mail, has already answered the
points raised in the letter of Andrew Mathas.

However

Many years ago you told me that until you were forty you were very
concerned about what people thought of you. Then you decided to be
concerned about what you thought of other people instead.
Vickram Seth, "A suitable boy"

and since I am over forty, do allow me a general remark. Of the many
letters in the GAP-forum and even more in gap-trouble quite a few deal
with problems that just concern the commodity of using GAP. Almost all
of them are justified: yes, GAP could provide still more and better
facilities of handling than it does at present. However, please do not
forget when coming with such suggestions that we are just a small
group of people in *mathematics*.

There are of course questions and requests like the one to provide
means of writing a GAP session that is interrupted to a file in such a
way that it can be started again next day, the importance of which we
fully see and even though that request is not as easily fulfilled as
asked, we think about it and have it on the list of problems for which
something or other must be done with a fairly high priority, since we
know that it is essential for being able to do certain large tasks in
GAP.

However, may I ask that before suggesting something more that we could
do to increase just the commodity of using GAP (not its real
functionality), to ask yourself seriously, if the absence of this
commodity really stops you from doing something. Please consider that
we try to answer all such questions and requests, if possible at all
even fast, and that already this takes a very big (and in fact
increasing) part of our time.

Nobody's perfect, GAP isn't, we aren't, still we like to survive, even
while providing GAP and still trying to stay mathematicians.

Thanks for your understanding. Joachim Neubueser