pattern in strfind

[Bansard Stephane <p0665393@...>]

Hello everybody !!

I would like to know how to match a block of repetive sequences (for instance : 
my basic pattern could be : "+=" like in the phrase "begin+=+=+=+=end". I
want substring1 = begin, substring2 = +=+=+=+=, substring3 = end. Of course the
number of the basic pattern ("+=") may vary.

how could I write this pattern in strfind ? 
---
Could I find somewhere an explanation about the reason why Lua doesn't use
regexp ? (I suppose the explanation isn't still written as mentioned in the
draft of luabook but there may be a quick answer available anyway !). 
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A last thing about the lua console (the interactive lua). Could it be more
shell-like with say, command history, Unix-style shortcuts ? Would it be 
possible to write complete functions without adding the "\" at each end line?

Many thanks,
Stephane