Global InformationEmacs information
Emacs /ˈiːmæks/ ⓘ, originally named EMACS (an acronym for "Editor Macros"),[1][2][3] is a family of text editors that are characterized by their extensibility.[4] The manual for the most widely used variant,[5] GNU Emacs, describes it as "the extensible, customizable, self-documenting, real-time display editor".[6] Development of the first Emacs began in the mid-1970s,[7] and work on GNU Emacs, directly descended from the original, is ongoing; its latest version is 29.3, released March 2024.[8]
Emacs has over 10,000 built-in commands and its user interface allows the user to combine these commands into macros to automate work. Implementations of Emacs typically feature a dialect of the Lisp programming language, allowing users and developers to write new commands and applications for the editor. Extensions have been written to, among other things, manage files, remote access,[9] e-mail, outlines, multimedia, Git integration, RSS feeds,[10] and collaborative editing,[11] as well as implementations of ELIZA, Pong, Conway's Life, Snake, Dunnet, and Tetris.[12]
The original EMACS was written in 1976 by David A. Moon and Guy L. Steele Jr. as a set of macros for the TECO editor.[13][1][2][3][14] It was inspired by the ideas of the TECO-macro editors TECMAC and TMACS.[15]
The most popular, and most ported, version of Emacs is GNU Emacs, which was created by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project.[16] XEmacs is a variant that branched from GNU Emacs in 1991. GNU Emacs and XEmacs use similar Lisp dialects and are, for the most part, compatible with each other. XEmacs development is inactive.
GNU Emacs is, along with vi, one of the two main contenders in the traditional editor wars of Unix culture. GNU Emacs is among the oldest free and open source projects still under development.[17]
- ^ a b Greenberg, Bernard S. (1979). Multics Emacs: The History, Design and Implementation.
- ^ a b "GNU Emacs FAQ".
- ^ a b Adrienne G. Thompson. "MACSimizing TECO". Archived from the original on 2013-10-24. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
- ^ "A Tutorial Introduction to GNU Emacs".
For an editor to be called "emacs" the main requirement is that it be fully extensible with a real programming language, not just a macro language.
- ^ "GNU Emacs Pocket Reference".
GNU Emacs is the most popular and widespread of the Emacs family of editors.
- ^ "GNU Emacs Manual". FSF. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
- ^ Zawinski, Jamie (2007-10-29). "Emacs Timeline". www.jwz.org. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
- ^ "Emacs 29.3 released". lists.gnu.org. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
- ^ "Tramp User Manual". Free Software Foundation. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- ^ "Introducing Elfeed, an Emacs Web Feed Reader".
- ^ "Collaborative editing using Conflict-free Replicated Data Types".
- ^ "Amusements".
Finally, if you find yourself frustrated, try describing your problems to the famous psychotherapist Eliza. Just do M-x doctor.
- ^ Zawinski, Jamie (2005-06-21) [1999]. "Emacs Timeline". Retrieved 11 August 2015.
- ^ Richard Stallman is often credited as another co-creator, but as Daniel Weinreb wrote, "The original (TECO-based) Emacs was created and designed by Guy L. Steele Jr. and David Moon. After they had it working, and it had become established as the standard text editor at the AI lab, Stallman took over its maintenance." Moon himself responded "All true, so far as I can remember. But in all fairness I have to say that Stallman greatly improved Emacs after he “liberated” it from Guy and me." See Weinreb, Dan (November 11, 2007), "Rebuttal to Stallman's Story About The Formation of Symbolics and LMI", Dan Weinreb's blog: software and innovation, archived from the original on January 1, 2009.
- ^ "A history of Emacs". XEmacs Internals Manual. 2006-12-11. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
- ^ Allombert, Bill. "Debian Popularity Contest". Editors report. Debian. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
- ^ "The 10 oldest, significant open-source programs". ZDNet.