Install wxMaxima on Mac with Homebrew (Fix plotdf / wish Crash)

In this blog post, I'll guide you through the process of installing wxMaxima on your macOS machine and resolve a common issue related to the plotdf() function in macos Sonoma with maxima 5.47, and all other functions that call the tcl-tk interpreter wish.

The plotdf() Function Issue

MacOS Sonoma comes with a preinstalled Tcl-TK package. One problem you might encounter when using Maxima is that the plotdf() function or ploteq(), which is used for plotting differential equations, crashes. This issue arises because Maxima calls the wish script from the tcl-tk package, but the version of tcl-tk that comes pre-installed with macOS can be problematic.

There's an easy fix for this problem: installing tcl-tk and Maxima using Homebrew.

Step-by-Step Installation with Homebrew

Homebrew is a popular package manager for macOS that makes installing software a breeze. Follow these simple steps to install wxMaxima and resolve the plotdf() issue:

1. Install Homebrew: If you haven't already installed Homebrew, open the Terminal application and run the following command:

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
   

2. Install tcl-tk: Once Homebrew is installed, run the following command to install the tcl-tk package:

   brew install tcl-tk
   

   This package contains the wish script that Maxima requires for the plotdf() function to work correctly.

3. Install Maxima: Next, install the Maxima computer algebra system by running:

   brew install maxima
   

4. Install wxMaxima: Finally, install the graphical user interface for Maxima with the following command:

   brew install wxmaxima
   

   This step will also install any necessary dependencies.

After completing these steps, you should be able to launch wxMaxima by running wxmaxima in the Terminal. You can now use the plotdf() function without encountering any crashes or issues.