gnu.emacs.sources ettiqutte question

gnu.emacs.sources ettiqutte question

[Þorne]

I wrote a generic mode for syntax highlighting IBM AS/400 CL (Control
Language) files.  It seems to work so far.

Leaving aside the question of who really cares or wants such an obscure
thing, i am wondering about the rules for posting on gnu.emacs.sources.
 Emacs is free and the code for the mode is free, but it is only useful
for editing files which only run on a distinctly non-free operating
system--and one for which i suspect there is no free replacement going
to be written... ever.

So i guess there is an analogy with, say, an editing mode for java
files back when there was no free java compiler.  Or something.
Anyway, i'm interested to know if posting such a thing would likely be
frowned upon.

Thanks.

Re: gnu.emacs.sources ettiqutte question

[Pascal Bourguignon]

"Þorne" <ego111@gmail.com> writes:

> I wrote a generic mode for syntax highlighting IBM AS/400 CL (Control
> Language) files.  It seems to work so far.
>
> Leaving aside the question of who really cares or wants such an obscure
> thing, i am wondering about the rules for posting on gnu.emacs.sources.
>  Emacs is free and the code for the mode is free, but it is only useful
> for editing files which only run on a distinctly non-free operating
> system--and one for which i suspect there is no free replacement going
> to be written... ever.

This should not be an impediment to make and distribute free software.

This is really a strategical question, and given the obscurity of the
proprietary software concerned, it is not very important.  It might
even suscitate the development of free implementations!  
What about an AS400 Control Language unix shell? ;-)


> So i guess there is an analogy with, say, an editing mode for java
> files back when there was no free java compiler.  Or something.
> Anyway, i'm interested to know if posting such a thing would likely be
> frowned upon.

I don't think so.


-- 
__Pascal Bourguignon__                     http://www.informatimago.com/

"You can tell the Lisp programmers.  They have pockets full of punch
 cards with close parentheses on them." --> http://tinyurl.com/8ubpf

Re: gnu.emacs.sources ettiqutte question

[Tim X]

"Þorne" <ego111@gmail.com> writes:

> I wrote a generic mode for syntax highlighting IBM AS/400 CL (Control
> Language) files.  It seems to work so far.
>
> Leaving aside the question of who really cares or wants such an obscure
> thing, i am wondering about the rules for posting on gnu.emacs.sources.
>  Emacs is free and the code for the mode is free, but it is only useful
> for editing files which only run on a distinctly non-free operating
> system--and one for which i suspect there is no free replacement going
> to be written... ever.
>
> So i guess there is an analogy with, say, an editing mode for java
> files back when there was no free java compiler.  Or something.
> Anyway, i'm interested to know if posting such a thing would likely be
> frowned upon.
>
> Thanks.
>

I don't think there should be any problem. When you think about it,
emacs runs on a number of non-free platforms, such as Windows, VAX,
Solaris, True64 etc. There are also many modes which interact with
non-free applications, such as sql-mode, plsql-mode etc. I also know
people use emacs modes to edit sources used with non-free software,
such as compilers etc. 

Tim


-- 
tcross (at) rapttech dot com dot au