bug#18205: Obsolete patterns in auto-mode-alist

[Reuben Thomas <rrt@sc3d.org>]

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On 9 August 2014 09:30, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:

> > That's pretty much the point: I am suggesting removing features specific
> to
> > the build (in this case, the build system) and letting the normal build
> > system take the strain instead.
>
> I envision a non-trivial effort doing that, an effort that is IMO a
> waste of valuable resources.
>
> The current DJGPP build "just works", given that you have a correct
> setup on a system that supports the build (requirements for supporting
> the build might be different from those for supporting running of the
> binary).


The trouble is that despite carefully-written and lengthy documentation,
these requirements aren't fully documented, and yet it seems users are
expected to build Emacs for themselves, as the most recent release on the
DJGPP site is 23.3, and the emacs.README file on the download site says:

"Emacs can be compiled with DJGPP out of the box, and you are encouraged to
get the latest version from the GNU ftp sites and build it by yourself."

So either that expectation should be changed (i.e. binary builds should be
supplied in a timely fashion to the DJGPP site, and that sentence in the
documentation changed), or the build instructions should be improved.

We could try debugging those problems, but unless you intend to continue
> building
> the DJGPP port, that, too, would be a waste, IMO.
>

If people are still using Emacs on DOS, and they're expected to build it
from source, surely this is not a waste of effort? Or, no-one is using it,
and we should remove the port.


> Given the above, investing efforts in moving DJGPP to the Posix
> configury is a waste of resources that are best applied to parts of
> Emacs that will benefit users of modern systems.
>

FreeDOS is an active project, and it's free. It seems odd to me that we
should be happy that Emacs builds on a defunct proprietary system, and not
(apparently) on a closely-related, active, free one.

-- 
http://rrt.sc3d.org

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