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RMS Steps Down As Emacs Maintainer

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the evangelism-is-time-consuming dept.

sigzero writes "Short but sweet: RMS is stepping down as Emacs Maintainer: 'From: Richard Stallman, Subject: Re: Looking for a new Emacs maintainer or team, Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:57:22 -0500 Stefan and Yidong offered to take over, so I am willing to hand over Emacs development to them."

4 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Stallman is still around? by smittyoneeach · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Disagree. He championed the important idea that sharing source code is a Good Thing, and did it with a degree of consistency over time that is remarkable.
    Yeah, I lose track of his ideas after a point (ethics), but I'm a firm believer in "credit where due".
    Certainly more deserving of something like a Nobel Peace Prize than some of the nitwits that have besmirched the concept in recent history.
    Anyone know how to nominate someone for http://www.medaloffreedom.com/

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  2. Emacs bloat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I love emacs and RMS' work over the years.. but... The last great emacs release was 19.34b. Every release since then has suffered badly from bloat and other crud. Unfortunately 19.34b doesn't compile on any modern platform (though in 1998 it could be compiled in under 10 seconds on an Origin 2000 with 8 CPUs).

    Bring back 19.34b!

  3. Re:Stallman is still around? by smittyoneeach · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've had some extended discussions with him over email.
    Hence the fact that I taper off from agreement when the discussion gets abstract: his philosophical basis leaves me unmoved.
    However, when you consider the impact of the GPL, GCC, and the FSF world-wide, and into the future, the Nobel Peace Prize makes sense, even if the fellow himself has some cantankerous moments.
    In any case, I submit that the man's overall historical impact may rank with Gutenberg, and for the same reason: taking information out of the hands of the elite and offering a level playing field. Gutenberg did it for literacy, Stallman for programming.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  4. Re:Stallman is still around? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Simplicity: [X] vi [_] emacs
    2. Less bloat: [X] vi [_] emacs
    3. More users: [X] vi [_] emacs

    I'm not sure what you think you're proving. I mean...
    1. Simplicity: [_] vi [X] Notepad
    2. Less bloat: [_] vi [X] Notepad
    3. More users: [_] vi [X] Notepad
    But I really don't think Notepad is a better editor than vi, and I say this as a dedicated emacs user.