Re: Emacs ffi

[Christopher Dimech <dimech@gmx.com>]

> Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2024 at 4:57 AM
> From: "Richard Stallman" <rms@gnu.org>
> To: "Björn Bidar" <bjorn.bidar@thaodan.de>
> Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org, eliz@gnu.org
> Subject: Re: Emacs ffi
>
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> 
>   > I think GPL compliance could be checked but I agree we can't require
>   > external libraries where Emacs is the minority to impose such
>   > requirements. Well technically we can but who will honor them? Does the
>   > FFI interface have a system for such things?
> 
> Instead of thinking of this question as an abstract one, it will be
> more productive to look at exanples.  I think we will find that most
> things people might want in the area of mathematical libraries are
> available as GPL-compatible free software, and that most of the rest
> come with an operating system's major components and would qualify for
> the "system library" exception.
> 
> So maybe in practice the problematical case only rarely occurs.

Why are we moving away from the built-in mathematical implementations in 
Emacs' Calc package ?  Calc is a powerful tool and deeply integrated within 
Emacs, offering a wide range of mathematical functionalities that cater to 
many common and advanced needs.  It supports arithmetic, algebra, calculus, 
and even symbolic mathematics, making it very versatile.  

Is its interface daunting for users ?  Would we need dedicated people to focus
on it again ? 

Still, the discussion has been shifting towards a General FFI Interface, beyond
mathematical libraries.