Re: Emacs vista build failures

[Barry Fishman <barry_fishman@acm.org>]

Richard M Stallman <rms@gnu.org> writes:
> Barry Fishman writes:
>> I think you may be loosing sight of some things by still focusing just
>> on gaining freedom.  A GNU system now exists that people can use
>> reliably and productively.  Many of us prefer it over the proprietary
>> alternatives, even if they were free.  Isn't that real freedom.  For
>> many of us you have already won.
>
> Not very many.  Less than 10% of computer users use GNU/Linux,
> and nearly all of them run non-free software on or in it.
> The people who have fully rejected nonfree software are few.

I think there are two issues here.  First it is very difficult to get
people, even those who are politically concerned, to understand the
importance of the issues involved with free software.  This does require
constant educational effort.  I'm not arguing against that.

But one needs a platform that is worth using.  Not just a cheap Vista
clone.

The Japanese started out by making cheap copies of American autos.  It
took them only so far.  They really gained sales by using the quality
control methods that US corporations rejected, and started making better
products.  Now American auto companies try to copy the Japanese.

>> Why not make GNOME work more like Emacs.  Whats the point of a C
>> based GTK it you don't use it through a Lisp like layer?  Why is so
>> much of my Gnome configuration buried in zillions of directories
>> filled with ugly XML files.  Why can't I query it with simple REPL?
>
> I agree with you there.  The sad thing is that GNOME was initially
> based on Scheme, and it was possible to do these things.  They do not
> listen to me much, so I save my efforts with them for the issues
> that are essential to our campaign for freedom.

This whole thread has been about changing the direction of Emacs,
dropping the support for non-free platforms, and integrating it better
within GNU.

My initial concern was that this seemed to mean that Emacs might
loose its identity which made the time my job required me to spend on
proprietary environments much less horrible.  However, its been quite a
few years since this has occurred.

But if Emacs is going to be integrated within GNU, I just hope it
involves more time shaping the direction of GTK, making improvements in
ELisp/Guile, and making a better framework on which things like Gnome
can be built.

For example, one should ultimately be able to do things like have
GnuCash use Emacs/TTY code to display in text windows.

-- 
Barry Fishman