[comp.emacs] Gosling vs GNU

gamin@ireq-robot.UUCP (Martin Boyer) (01/12/90)

[Parts of this have been posted before, but I strongly believe the original
 article got lost when we switched news systems]

First, I believe that Gosling emacs is *not* public domain anymore.
Perhaps some original version still is, but a commercial company took over
and polished it to produce what is now called UniPress Emacs.  The latest
version is 2.20 and comes with a complete user manual and a mlisp manual if
you purchase the source license.  I've used it for four years and it has
served me very well.  I also have access to an implementation very close to
the original, vintage, Gosling version and I have no doubt that the
Unipress version is *much* better and well worth the price.

For various reasons, I am considering GNU emacs; the rest of the article is
a request for information about the relative merits of UniPress 2.20 and GNU
18.55 emacses.

The question is asked from time to time, but generally by new users who
need to decide which emacs they should start with.  I have been using
UniPress emacs for 4 years now, bought the source about two years ago and
"fixed" the most annoying "misfeatures" (notably, I ported GNU's
regexp-search to emacs because the old Gosling code is not a complete
regexp matcher).

Obviously, propagating the local additions is getting painful.  Specially
because the UniPress mlisp code keeps changing and is poorly documented
(don't get me wrong, the product is VERY well documented, the mlisp
sources are not so well organized).  I realize that UniPress is excellent
for novice users, but is difficult to maintain if one doesn't follow
UniPress' idea of what emacs should be.

Keeping in mind that I am using an "improved" version 2.15 (I also have 2.20,
but it is too buggy to be usable), that I know it very well (down to the
source code), that I have to maintain local additions, and that I consider
myself to be a UniPress emacs guru (whether or not I really am seems
irrelevant :-)), how does GNU compare to UniPress in those specific areas:

- foreign language support (8-bit characters mainly)
- speed
- terminal support
  (Available on UniPress: mouse, menus, window control, fonts, and color)
- typeout/transient/temporary windows (for *Help* buffers generally)
- maintainability
- ease of use
- consistency across machines, operating systems, and terminals
- documentation

I'd also be interested in hearing about GNU's means of "interacting" with
the user as I had this wild idea that I could translate emacs in French
(well, most of the messages, anyway).

To narrow the discussion a bit, I'm interested *only* in running emacs on
Suns (under SunView for now, XView eventually).  I would also add that I
believe that GNU is better, at least in principle, but 4 years of
customization and development is not something I'll easily give up (I am
aware of GNU's Gosling emulation, but it can't emulate local extensions
can it?).  I am afraid that not too many people know both GNU and UniPress
so, it you think you can help, please do.  If there is sufficient data and
interest, I will summarize.

Thanks,

Martin
-- 
Martin Boyer                         ireq-robot!mboyer@Larry.McRCIM.McGILL.EDU
Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Quebec mboyer@ireq-robot.uucp
Varennes, QC, Canada   J3X 1S1
+1 514 652-8136