[net.emacs] EMACS -- What does it mean?

BRAIL%mit-eddie@BLUE.UUCP (09/10/85)

From: harvard!topaz!BLUE!BRAIL@mit-eddie
	EMACS may stand for "Editing MACroS," but some friends of mine
suggested some more creative definitions. Here they are. Anyone have
any additions?

--------

Even a
Master of
Arts
Comes 
Simpler

Emacs
Manuals
Are 
Cryptic and
Surreal

Energetic
Merchants
Always
Cultivate
Sales

Each
Manual's
Audience is
Completely
Stupified

Emacs
Means
A
Crappy
Screen

Eventually
Munches
All
Computer
Storage

Even 
My 
Aunt
Crashes the
System

Eradication of 
Memory
Accomplished with
Complete
Simplicity

Elsewhere
Maybe
Alternative
Civilizations
Survive

Egregious
Managers
Actively
Court
Stallman

Esoteric
Malleability
Always
Considered
Silly

Emacs
Manuals
Always
Cause
Senility

Easily
Maintained with the
Assistance of
Chemical
Solutions

EMACS
MACRO
ACTED
CREDO
SODOM

Edwardian
Manifestation of
All
Colonial
Sins

Generally
Not
Used

Except by
Middle
Aged
Computer
Scientists

Extended
Macros
Are
Considered
Superfluous

Every
Mode
Accelerates
Creation of
Software

Elsewhere
Maybe
All
Commands are
Simple

Emacs
May
Allow
Customised
Screwups

Excellent
Manuals
Are
Clearly
Suppressed

Emetic
Macros
Assault
Core and
Segmentation

Embarrassed
Manual-Writer
Accused of
Communist
Subversion

Extensibilty and 
Modifiability
Aggravate
Confirmed
Simpletons

Emacs
May
Annihilate
Command
Structures

Easily
Mangles,
Aborts,
Crashes and
Stupifies

Extraneous
Macros
And
Commands
Stink

Exceptionally
Mediocre
Algorithm for
Computer
Scientists

EMACS
Makes no
Allowances
Considering its
Stiff price

Equine
Mammals
Are
Considerably
Smaller

Embarrasingly
Mundane
Advertising
Cuts
Sales

Every
Moron
Assumes
CCA is
Superior

Exceptionally
Mediocre
Autocratic
Control
System

EMACS
May
Alienate
Clients and
Supporters

Excavating
Mayan
Architecture
Comes
Simpler

Erasing 
Minds
Allows 
Complete
Submission

Every
Male
Adolescent
Craves
Sex

Elephantine
Memory
Absolutely
Considered
Sine que non

Emacs 
Makers
Are
Crazy
Sickos

Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Mo-
Macros
Are
Completely
Slow

Experience the
Mildest
Ad
Campaign ever
Seen

Emacs
Makefiles
Annihilate
C-
Shells

Eradication of
Memory
Accomplished with
Complete
Simplicity

Emetic
Macros
Assault
Core and
Segmentation

Epileptic
MLisp
Aggravates
Compiler
Seizures

Eleven thousand
Monkeys
Asynchronously
Crank out these
Slogans
-------

warren@ihnss.UUCP (Warren Montgomery) (09/10/85)

Someone at a luncheon suggested it meant:

Evenings,
Mornings,
And a 
Couple of
Saturdays

(In reference to the odd hours that went into the creation of my
implementation).

-- 

	Warren Montgomery
	ihnss!warren
	IH ((312)-979) x2494

macrakis@harvard.ARPA (Stavros Macrakis) (09/14/85)

> Someone at a luncheon suggested it meant:  ...
> 	-- Warren Montgomery

Actually, if anyone cares....  The original Emacs was written as a
package of Editing MACroS under the Teco text editor on the DEC
PDP-10 machine running the ITS timesharing system at the MIT AI lab
about nine years ago.  ITS Teco is distantly related to other Tecos on
PDP-10's in that its basic commands are all the same (Example: to
go to the end of the current line and insert `foo', the command is
`:LIfoo$'), but has a very large repertory of sometimes useful,
sometimes weird, and always cryptic commands.  (Example: Sort the
lines of the buffer using as key everything between `>>' and '<<'
would be ^P S>>$ $ S<<$ $ L $').

Since before 1971, Teco ran on display terminals in a mode where
commands were echoed at the bottom of the screen (hence the term `echo
line') and the buffer was displayed in the rest of the screen.  (In
case you're wondering how dot was indicated--since the cursor was
always in the echo area--it was `/\'.)  Still, commands were not
executed as they were typed in, but rather when they were terminated
with $$.

In addition, there were two different real-time edit modes, called ^T
and ^R mode (because those were the Teco commands to enter the modes).
These modes were wired into Teco (which was written in assembler), and
not very heavily used.

Around 1970, several people decided that real-time editing in Teco
would be a good idea.  I'm not sure when ^R mode was made extensible,
but it must have been about this time.  Several packages were put
together.  One of them was especially designed for light users or
non-hacker users.  Its commands were fairly mnemonic and emphasized
word processing.  Another one, named Tecmac, was designed for and by
hackers.  A third, which came a bit later, was Emacs.

Emacs had the advantage that its designer and developer, Richard
Stallman, also maintained Teco, to which he made many extensions to
make Emacs easier to write and maintain and more efficient to run.
The other macro packages had had to use bare Teco, which is something
like trying to write systems programs in old Dartmouth Basic.  To give
you an idea of how primitive Teco was before Stallman's enhancements,
it didn't even have named variables and procedures (just q-registers A
- Z).  All the macro packages were user-customizable, but
customization required a knowledge of many obscure parts of Teco.

The first Emacs that was written in a `friendlier' environment was, I
believe, Multics Emacs, written by Bernie Greenberg.  It was written
in Multics Maclisp.

Since then, of course, there have been many Emacs's, most of them
emphasizing the notion of extensibility and power.

But ITS Emacs runs on ...!

	-s

(Stavros Macrakis)

gml@ssc-vax.UUCP (Gregory M Lobdell) (09/15/85)

Pleeeeeeeze!!!  Nice try on the meaning of EMACS.  I believe the
correct acronym is:

Emacs 
Makes
All 
Computing 
Simple

Thank you, and Good Night

turner@saber.UUCP (D'arc Angel @ The Houses of the Holy) (09/16/85)

> > Someone at a luncheon suggested it meant:  ...
> > 	-- Warren Montgomery
> 
> Actually, if anyone cares....  The original Emacs was written as a
> package of Editing MACroS under the Teco text editor on the DEC
......
> 
> But ITS Emacs runs on ...!
> 
> 	-s
> 
> (Stavros Macrakis)

*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***

very interesting, but what does GNU stand for ?
-- 
			god bless Lily St. Cyr
			 -Rocky Horror Picture Show

Name:	James Turner
Mail:	Saber Technology, 2381 Bering Drive, San Jose, California 95131
AT&T:	(408) 945-9600 x75
UUCP:	...{decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!saber!turner
	...{amd,ihnp4,ittvax}!saber!turner

neal@weitek.UUCP (Neal Bedard) (09/24/85)

In article <1771@saber.UUCP>, turner@saber.UUCP (D'arc Angel @ The Houses of the Holy) writes:
> very interesting, but what does GNU stand for ?
> -- 
> 			god bless Lily St. Cyr
> 			 -Rocky Horror Picture Show
> 
> Name:	James Turner
> Mail:	Saber Technology, 2381 Bering Drive, San Jose, California 95131

GNU = Gnu's Not UNIX. There is also MINCE, for Mince Is Not a Complete Emacs.

More recursive acronyms, anyone?

-Neal

-- 
"whaddya mean there were bullet-holes in his mirror..."
UUCP: {turtlevax, resonex, cae780}!weitek!neal

wcs@ho95e.UUCP (Bill.Stewart.4K435.x0705) (09/27/85)

> > very interesting, but what does GNU stand for ?
> GNU = Gnu's Not UNIX. There is also MINCE, for Mince Is Not a Complete Emacs.
> More recursive acronyms, anyone?
Many people have also seen FINE Is Not Emacs, but the one that has
character is THief Isn't Even Fine.
-- 
## Bill Stewart, AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ 1-201-949-0705 ihnp4!ho95c!wcs

ta2@edison.UUCP (tom allebrandi) (09/30/85)

> GNU = Gnu's Not UNIX. There is also MINCE, for Mince Is Not a Complete Emacs.
> 
> More recursive acronyms, anyone?
> 

For the DEC-system-10/20: FINE - Fine Is Not Emacs.....

-- 
...............
tom allebrandi 2, general electric aco, charlottesville, va
{decvax,duke}!mcnc!ncsu!uvacs!edison!ta2
box 8106, charlottesville, va, 22906
(804) 978-5566
...............

turner@saber.UUCP (D'arc Angel @ The Houses of the Holy) (09/30/85)

> In article <1771@saber.UUCP>, turner@saber.UUCP (D'arc Angel @ The Houses of the Holy) writes:
> > very interesting, but what does GNU stand for ?
> > -- 
> > 			god bless Lily St. Cyr
> > 			 -Rocky Horror Picture Show
> > 
> > Name:	James Turner
> > Mail:	Saber Technology, 2381 Bering Drive, San Jose, California 95131
> 
> GNU = Gnu's Not UNIX. There is also MINCE, for Mince Is Not a Complete Emacs.
> 
> More recursive acronyms, anyone?
> 
> -Neal
> 
> -- 
> "whaddya mean there were bullet-holes in his mirror..."
> UUCP: {turtlevax, resonex, cae780}!weitek!neal

*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***

Yes, but who or what is Gnu ?????
-- 
			god bless Lily St. Cyr
			 -Rocky Horror Picture Show

Name:	James Turner
Mail:	Saber Technology, 2381 Bering Drive, San Jose, California 95131
AT&T:	(408) 945-9600 x75
UUCP:	...{decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!saber!turner
	...{amd,ihnp4,ittvax}!saber!turner

crm@duke.UUCP (Charlie Martin) (10/01/85)

In article <1781@saber.UUCP> turner@saber.UUCP (D'arc Angel @ The Houses of the Holy) writes:
>> In article <1771@saber.UUCP>, turner@saber.UUCP (D'arc Angel @ The Houses of the Holy) writes:
>Yes, but who or what is Gnu ?????
Not much, what's gnu with you?


You mean, it *wasn't* a straight line?

-- 

			Charlie Martin
			(...mcnc!duke!crm)

turner@saber.UUCP (D'arc Angel @ The Houses of the Holy) (10/03/85)

> In article <1781@saber.UUCP> turner@saber.UUCP (D'arc Angel @ The Houses of the Holy) writes:
> >> In article <1771@saber.UUCP>, turner@saber.UUCP (D'arc Angel @ The Houses of the Holy) writes:
> >Yes, but who or what is Gnu ?????
> Not much, what's gnu with you?
> 
> 
> You mean, it *wasn't* a straight line?
> 
> -- 
> 
> 			Charlie Martin
> 			(...mcnc!duke!crm)


at least i didnt ask what's Urs ????
-- 
			god bless Lily St. Cyr
			 -Rocky Horror Picture Show

Name:	James Turner
Mail:	Imagen Corp. 2650 San Tomas Expressway, P.O. Box 58101
	Santa Clara, CA 95052-9400
AT&T:	(408) 986-9400
UUCP:	...{decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!imagen!negami!turner