jimb@drutx.ATT.COM (jim bryant) (01/30/88)
i'd like to know opinions on what is the best version of emacs for a pc *and* how to get them. i'd like something as close to gnu as possible. i've heard of micrognu, which i'll assume is close to gnu, can someone tell me where i can get it? thanks jim bryant ihnp4!drutx!jimb
nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson) (02/01/88)
Freemacs is a PD (actually copylefted) programmable editor for the
IBM-PC and Z-100. Freemacs is a true Emacs editor. The .exe file is
only about 17K, just enough for a screen handler and a programming
language, MINT. Freemacs is largely written in MINT, and so is easy
to modify.
You may freely copy this software. I only ask that you send improvements
back to me for incorporation into the package for the rest of us. The
executables and source are available from one or more of the following
sources:
EMACS14C.ARC and EMACS14D.ARC are the executables and MINT code.
EMAC14CS.ARC and EMAC14DS.ARC is the .ASM source.
WFM BBS: (315)265-8207 - 1200 8N1, 24 hrs.
No registration required to download freemacs.
ARPANET Anonymous ftp from clutx.clarkson.edu
pub/Freemacs/*
Anonymous ftp from simtel20.arpa:
PD:<MSDOS.text-editors>EMACS14C.ARC
GENIE General Electric's Information Exchange
BITNET Send a request to nelson@clutx.bitnet. Specify
'uuencoded arc' or, if you don't recognize that
term, specify 'debug script'.
Or, if you are not on any of the above networks, send $10 (copying fee)
to the author.
Russell Nelson
11 Grant St.
Potsdam, NY 13676
Addresses, electronic and otherwise:
Author: Russell Nelson
Internet: nelson@clutx.clarkson.edu
Bitnet: nelson@clutx
GEnie: bh01
Snail: 11 Grant St., Potsdam, NY 13676
There is a mailing list for the Internet on 'freemacs@clvm.bitnet'.
To sign up, send a mail message to LISTSERV at CLVM (LISTSERV@CLVM.BITNET
or LISTSERV%CLVM@OMNIGATE.CLARKSON.EDU). If you are on bitnet, you can
send a direct message. The list server command, whether sent by mail or
BitNet "direct message", should be "SUBSCRIBE FREEMACS human name".
Example:
TELL LISTSERV AT CLVM SUBSCRIBE FREEMACS John Q. Public
or in the body of a netmail message:
SUBSCRIBE FREEMACS John Q. Public
The HELP command will return a help screen via direct message or mail.
To sign up, send a mail message to LISTSERV at CLVM (LISTSERV@CLVM.BITNET
or LISTSERV%CLVM@OMNIGATE.CLARKSON.EDU). If you are on bitnet, you can
send a direct message. The list server command, whether sent by mail or
BitNet "direct message", should be "SUBSCRIBE FREEMACS human name".
Example:
TELL LISTSERV AT CLVM SUBSCRIBE FREEMACS John Q. Public
or in the body of a netmail message:
SUBSCRIBE FREEMACS John Q. Public
The HELP command will return a help screen via direct message or mail.
--
-russ
AT&T: (315)268-6591 BITNET: NELSON@CLUTX Internet: nelson@clutx.clarkson.edu
GEnie: BH01 Compu$erve: 70441,205hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu (Charles Hedrick) (02/01/88)
I have recently gotten a PC compatible machine myself, and so have had some chance to look into Emacs for it. Unfortunately, there is no one program that is perfect. My favorite, where it works, is Freemacs. I won't repeat the information on how to get it, which was just posted. It is quite close to Gnu in its commands. It is quite fast. MINT is at least as good an extension language as Gnu Emacs Lisp. (I note that the MINT documentation doesn't reference Trac. Was it invented independently, or did there seem to be so many changes that a reference wasn't necessary?) However there are some limitations that mean it may not be your only editor: - on a monochrome screen, the default colors are wrong. You get something like bold-face text on a white background. This means you learn real quickly how to change Emacs. You also find that the mode line colors are tied to the foreground ones. I ended up with a completely black screen. Since Emacs doesn't put back the settings it found, this persisted even after I exited! This all is of course easily fixed. - control characters display white on white on a monochrome screen. COntrol char display is harcoded in the .ASM files, so you have to change it there. (I ended up turning on bit 08h instead of 10h. The comments suggest that this may have been what the author intended anyway.) - the mint files are written out in a binary compressed format, so it isn't obvious how to diff an old version with a new one to post my changes. - files are limited to 64K. The last is the only limitation that is serious. I'll post patches for the rest in a few minutes, if I can figure out how to get them out of emacs.ed. For big files, I recommend bigemacs, which is on simtel in <msdos.editor> as bigemacs.arc. It is microemacs compiled with large (or huge?) model, and with display modified to go directly to the screen, so it is faster. Microemacs has a number of drawbacks, including: - bindings aren't Gnu - it truncates lines that are too long (Freemacs can even be used to edit executable files) - there is some evidence that it truncates files at the first ^Z (probably dpeneds upon the version of C used to build it) But because it is written in C, it was easy to make a version that will handle as a big a file as your memory will handle. A Freemacs that would handle big files would be my ideal editor.