Re: Emacs ffi

[Christopher Dimech <dimech@gmx.com>]

> Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2024 at 6:06 PM
> From: "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz@gnu.org>
> To: "Christopher Dimech" <dimech@gmx.com>
> Cc: acorallo@gnu.org, suhailsingh247@gmail.com, gerd.moellmann@gmail.com, nicolas@n16f.net, arthur.miller@live.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org
> Subject: Re: Emacs ffi
>
> > From: Christopher Dimech <dimech@gmx.com>
> > Cc: suhailsingh247@gmail.com, gerd.moellmann@gmail.com, nicolas@n16f.net,
> >  arthur.miller@live.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
> > Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2024 23:21:48 +0200
> > 
> > 
> > But this message does not resonate within the minds of the core emacs maintainers, 
> > with the trend continuing for many years to come.  Some believe that everybody 
> > in the world doesn’t get it about free software, and even that everybody in the 
> > world is a crook and that everybody in the world is trying to steal free software 
> > and make bad use of it.  I do not approve of such ideas.  Many think they know
> > everything about copyright infringement, but never been thrown out of court on 
> > a motion to dismiss.  
> > 
> > It's always the same, you'll get prima donna maintainers who are at the same 
> > level of priests, who preach a lot about licensing scenarios.  But have never 
> > been there, never done it, but preaching a lot about what others can do and what 
> > they cannot do.  Too much coercion was surely not what we wanted to apply.
> 
> For the umpteenth time: the maintainers are not at liberty to change
> the policies they promised to uphold when they were appointed.  If you
> want to discuss these policies, please take this to the proper place.
> 
> > As customary I get "Your message was deemed inappropriate by the moderator."
> > from emacs-devel-owner@gnu.org.  I wonder who it is.  Actually I wonder why
> > I wonder.
> 
> You were asked, several times, to take this subject off this list.
> What did you expect to happen when you keep ignoring those requests,
> time and again?
 
I have no illusions about the outcome. Decisions will be made regardless, 
but it's important to present the contrarian perspective. While I typically 
refrain from commenting, I do speak on the rare occasions when licensing 
is at issue.  It's about enhancing functionality, not complicating it with 
licensing hurdles that don't really apply.  

Incorporating a mathematical library into Emacs, based on Calc, is not
just feasible but highly beneficial.  Without all the perceived worries
you described.  You do a great job on the technical aspects, but when
you step outside your field and level of specialty, sometimes it is like
stepping off a cliff.

Emacs is a great idea.  In order to make it appeal to a younger generation 
of people who write programs for sharing, we need to make it simpler to use, 
quicker to understand, and better at doing all the jobs it’s supposed to do. 
And we need to refrain from going unnecessarily to war.