[comp.windows.misc] DM vs. Emacs

dce@mips.UUCP (David Elliott) (06/24/87)

>In article <8706222144.AA03493@hi-csc.uucp> slocum@hi-csc.UUCP (Brett Slocum) writes:
>The strength the [Apollo's ] DM has over Emacs is that it is integrated
>into the environment and Emacs is not; the DM can be used
>anywhere on the Apollo screen -- Emacs cannot (yes, I know,
>you can run a shell from inside Emacs.  But you still can't
>touch the command window).

The weakness of the DM editing facility as compared to Emacs or vi
is that you can't map keys on a per-window basis.

When I edit text, I want one set of mappings. When I'm programming,
I want a different set; in fact, I want a different set for shell
programming and C programming.

I also want to be able to change the mappings in one text editing
window and not another, and I don't want any of these changes to
affect how my "shell" character mappings are affected.

When DM can do this, it will be a useful editor. When I worked on
Apollos, I chose to use vi because it didn't stick me with a single
set of key bindings.

-- 
David Elliott		{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!mips!dce

mack@inco.UUCP (Dave Mack) (06/26/87)

In article <481@quacky.UUCP>, dce@mips.UUCP (David Elliott) writes:
> >In article <8706222144.AA03493@hi-csc.uucp> slocum@hi-csc.UUCP (Brett Slocum) writes:
> > [stuff about why DM is better than Emacs]
> [stuff about why Emacs is better than DM: binding different keys in
> differnet windows, etc.]
> David Elliott		{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!mips!dce

Mr. Elliott missed an important point. The *real* reason(s) that Emacs
is better than DM:

1) You don't need an Apollo to run it.

2) It's free. (Sort of.)

If DM source code can be UUCP'd from someplace and ported to a Sun, I
might be willing to reconsider.

-- 
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