From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: John Wiegley Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: [PATCH] Remove special requirement to disable startup message. Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2015 11:39:02 -0800 Message-ID: References: <878u4qdpd4.fsf@udel.edu> <20151222184106.GA5310@holos> NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; boundary="=-=-="; micalg=pgp-sha512; protocol="application/pgp-signature" X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1450813164 23645 80.91.229.3 (22 Dec 2015 19:39:24 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 22 Dec 2015 19:39:24 +0000 (UTC) Cc: Richard Stallman , emacs-devel@gnu.org To: Mark Oteiza Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Tue Dec 22 20:39:17 2015 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1aBSmC-0005ps-Jv for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Tue, 22 Dec 2015 20:39:16 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:52694 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1aBSmB-0007z4-HM for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Tue, 22 Dec 2015 14:39:15 -0500 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:44992) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1aBSm8-0007yE-74 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 22 Dec 2015 14:39:13 -0500 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1aBSm3-0006za-Uv for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 22 Dec 2015 14:39:12 -0500 Original-Received: from mail-pf0-x235.google.com ([2607:f8b0:400e:c00::235]:35698) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1aBSm3-0006zH-Os; Tue, 22 Dec 2015 14:39:07 -0500 Original-Received: by mail-pf0-x235.google.com with SMTP id 78so38107639pfw.2; Tue, 22 Dec 2015 11:39:07 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=from:to:cc:subject:in-reply-to:date:message-id:references :user-agent:mail-followup-to:mime-version:content-type; bh=Fq1qcohAmFPoYwQmj62YB1RJE69/sSICXD5WPqCnPIw=; b=SXThxu3vRqUlDc6v6vzTuAxdKxHOM+OuR9kmQK4cQQt6wCACp3DnSvi6sbFRenx6pH Z3RkpqPuzwzJAdJwRRQg+7a9UmYOGrjqSMGPCh+JrYXFZXpx53+bHibr5BoVqaVtIeFE ViSfXMFS85XQB2MdVJ5VQ6xC4r6RvLUG2PcCwEAlvf8OakK/Hqz1NTjVL4p8QMOUXotr zyKAUKRDwDHryt7H8mPFmbkW4D631jhzOPaLdX90be0by59wBMNTF7aFcveQ6W0pvZ6K QPlynNKXHjUIHGqBPbJSr99u+JwLghJ2sIyKEK3+mWzzDF/j8jlglJwt7Ow8WGMo2YzH uNTA== X-Received: by 10.98.8.212 with SMTP id 81mr38204650pfi.165.1450813147132; Tue, 22 Dec 2015 11:39:07 -0800 (PST) Original-Received: from Vulcan.local (76-234-68-79.lightspeed.frokca.sbcglobal.net. [76.234.68.79]) by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id e67sm13282908pfd.7.2015.12.22.11.39.06 (version=TLS1 cipher=AES128-SHA bits=128/128); Tue, 22 Dec 2015 11:39:06 -0800 (PST) X-Google-Original-From: "John Wiegley" Original-Received: by Vulcan.local (Postfix, from userid 501) id 6995611A80CED; Tue, 22 Dec 2015 11:39:05 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <20151222184106.GA5310@holos> (Mark Oteiza's message of "Tue, 22 Dec 2015 13:41:06 -0500") User-Agent: Gnus/5.130014 (Ma Gnus v0.14) Emacs/24.5 (darwin) Mail-Followup-To: Mark Oteiza , Richard Stallman , emacs-devel@gnu.org X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.2.x-3.x [generic] X-Received-From: 2607:f8b0:400e:c00::235 X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:196688 Archived-At: --=-=-= Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable >>>>> Mark Oteiza writes: > I have yet to see a good explanation for the weird treatment of this > variable. "Preventing site from disabling the message" is silly because y= ou > cannot prevent it. "thoughtless copying of init files" is another silly > reason because the init file can contain elisp that unconditionally disab= les > the message. I'm not sure how to reach a "good" level in explaining this, but here is the main idea: Emacs is a flagship of the GNU project, whose primary goal is to ensure software freedom for users, rather than merely to provide software to users. Thus, when Emacs starts up, one of its goals, as a GNU project, is not only= to edit files, but to make people aware of the issues of software freedom. (Th= is is also why Nicolas is currently having discussions with Richard about text= to be added to the Emacs web page that ostensibly has little to do with Emacs = as a software project.) If you think in terms of technical merit alone, there are more than a few things about this project, and participating in its development, that do not make complete sense, nor have "good" explanations. You have to broaden the scope to include the issue of promoting software freedom, and how Emacs is used to help achieve that task, for all the pieces to fall into place. Note that this is free software after all: You could fork Emacs and remove this code. But that wouldn't be GNU Emacs; and GNU Emacs strives very hard = to ensure that the question of software freedom is never buried or side-lined. =2D-=20 John Wiegley GPG fingerprint =3D 4710 CF98 AF9B 327B B80F http://newartisans.com 60E1 46C4 BD1A 7AC1 4BA2 --=-=-= Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQGcBAEBCgAGBQJWeabWAAoJEMFE2PTxn+YwyvIL+wXmJ6VaLeFvJUyZ3xQYngw+ I0HN27OP60KsBS9nw8UoqukCDaf7iQabAX8oQSvSLVkoz9mBmojs4ZpsCrEZiee2 Gbns1c3s3sYEddZwX3uXGsPxVD3PiK+uqEOXwpAisrn6exiJd69j5JFbPLR3rBAU yKJij6d70dlRAaZHf4h5xmamUalt8HPsqtcW+SGTyLw/ACz91K/io85uFudYf5Kq pvWtDpHcy389lp5jjw61gaVWuyJOmw6EYxavHQpLtk4QCXwih3jxj0bWSa4Ux6Oj 5tvJYD5bkjekr8YvdQENNN2MG/PELFwZUUH/vE+2G0dIWTRhAEwSzGwcx2uRtjbE 2jT1hZ+6oPIoTgFN2D/6H40fBx0uNuXgbTMzvE7flN3lRmHXQQk5x4lCR+BxmjWF pefCvN4a6HEnoR4V1KsOo3dR1jaPuSJblYZtjgkmvUXXXI/VT1qJKklKQetlKcGi EZqzlvr5WMmU1SYk7HWmdgiCpGD8mO5Ti9d+K8ICrQ== =LDuq -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --=-=-=--