Re: About Emacs Modernisation Project

[Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>]

>     No name spaces, no real lexical variables [...]
> These are not bugs, they are features.

No, they're not.  Elisp is slow and unsuited to "large" programs (which
do exist in Emacs, despite this barrier), and that is a problem.  But it
has a lot of legacy which is a large part of its popularity and
longevity.  If you want an Emacs that's not "hindered" by such legacy,
there are plenty, but then you don't enjoy the benefits of having such
a large legacy.
You can't have your cake and eat it too.

> editor? -- I mean, I know there are borderline cases, like
> gnus, which I use and which is a pretty large and complex
> system, but for most purposes, I think Emacs Lisp actually
> encourages the production of a lot of little, useful hacks.

Indeed.  But lexical scoping and name spaces wouldn't make any
difference in this respect.


        Stefan