bug#4367: 23.1; unable to view this png image

["Xah Lee" <xah@xahlee.org>]

Adding a bit argument about why i think it is critical for emacs to be able 
to open image files out of the box.

• viewing image files right inside emacs is very convenient, and a common 
operation. For example, for web developers, it is often needed to quickly 
see the image files, either in dired or with M-x ffap in inline images. Web 
app programers are today perhaps more than 50% of professional programers 
(or some large percentage.)

• I disagree about the argument that including DLL is too much work or 
problematic. For example, all popularly used emacs distros (Lennarts 
EmacsW32, Aquaemacs Mac, Carbon Emacs), all support viewing images out of 
the box. They mostly have just 1 core developer. If they can do it, GNU 
emacs with its tens of developers certainly can manage.

• perhaps there's licensing problem to include image DLL in GNU Emacs. If 
i'm correct, this might be because things bundled with GNU Emacs require 
signed copyright transfer agreement due to FSF's policy, or some complexity 
related to this. If so, i do think this is a problem that harms GNU Emacs. 
Again, if the issue of bundling image DLL for emacs does have something to 
do with licensing, then perhaps this licensing issue needs to be 
reconsidered. I'm aware this is a controversial and has been debated for 
long. I do not wish to suggest FSf people to re-exam old policies, but if 
this particular problem of not able to open image files in emacs out of the 
box is related to this, thus i mentions this.

• Considered from user point of view... if emacs does support viewing 
images, and does support Windows, then it must support it out of the box. 
For example, compare other successful Open Source projects, e.g. FireFox. 
They don't say: oh, including DLL is a problem, go use your OS's file 
management, or go follow these install and compile instruction on how to get 
it to work.

• Consider the related issue of emacs not supporting editing PHP or Visual 
Basic code. Consider this: average programer, hear that emacs is a great 
editor, she download it, and finds out it simply doesn't support 2 of the 
MOST popular languages. This alienates a big chuck of potential users.

Yes, FSF has a philosophy in supporting only Free Software. However, 
consider the user point of view again. In the 1980s and 1990s, where perhaps 
more than 50% of programers uses emacs. In those era, emacs works out of the 
box for what they need to do. This quality, helped spread GNU and FSF's 
philosophies. But, the computing landscape has changed a lot in the past 20 
years, and emacs does not work out of the box for most professional 
programer's needs today. For whatever philosophical or political problems 
today to include Visual Basic, this situation is a problem for emacs. If 
emacs still have a lot users, then it isn't a problem, but i think a 
verifiable fact is that, emacs's users among professional programers has 
reduced to something like 1%. (“professional programers” is here defined as 
those who's main income are from programing or sys admin.)

• The Visual Basic language is not philosophically in sync with FSF, but the 
Visual Basic mode is. So, whether to bundle the Visual Basic mode shouldn't 
be a problem if FSF is willing to consider effective ways to spread its 
philosophy by making emacs more usable for majority of professional 
programers on a practical basis.

Sorry if this report is tangential or perhaps not useful at all. But i tried 
to detail this specific problem of not able to open image files in emacs on 
Windows with reasons i think are pertinent that are mentioned by developers.

  Xah
∑ http://xahlee.org/

☄