🚀 go-pugleaf

Archive-Name: GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part1
Last-Modified: Sat, 6 Mar 1993 21:13:32 GMT
Last-Posted: Tue, 4 May 1993 02:52:18 GMT

               GNU Emacs FAQ: Notation/General/Help/Status

If you are viewing this text in a GNU Emacs Buffer, you can type "M-2 C-x $" to
get an overview of just the questions.  Then, when you want to look at the text
of the answers, just type "C-x $".

To search for a question numbered XXX, type "M-C-s ^XXX:", followed by a C-r if
that doesn't work, then type ESC to end the search.

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Full instructions for getting the latest FAQ are in question 22.  Also see the
`Introduction to news.answers' posting in the `news.answers' newsgroup, or send
e-mail to `mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu' with `help' on a body line, or use FTP,
WAIS, or Prospero to rtfm.mit.edu.



Notation Used in FAQ

  Skip this section and then come back if you don't understand some of the
  later answers.
  
1:   What do these mean: C-h, M-C-a, RET, "ESC a", etc.?
  
  C-x means press the `x' key while holding down the Control key.  M-x means
  press the `x' key while holding down the Meta key.  M-C-x means press the
  `x' key while holding down both the Control key and the Meta key.  C-M-a
  is a synonym for M-C-a.  RET, LFD, DEL, ESC, and TAB respectively refer to
  pressing the Return, Linefeed (aka Newline), Delete, Escape, and Tab keys
  and are equivalent to C-m, C-j, C-?, C-[, and C-i.  SPC means press the
  Space bar.
  
  I put any key sequence that is longer than one key (and some single-key
  sequences) inside double quotes or on a line by itself.  Any real spaces
  in such a key sequence should be ignored; only SPC really means press the
  space key.
  
  The ASCII code sent by C-x (except for C-?) is the value that would be
  sent by pressing just `x' minus 96 (or 64 for uppercase `X') and will be
  from 0 to 31.  The ASCII code sent by M-x is the sum of 128 and the ASCII
  code that would be sent by pressing just the `x' key.  Essentially, the
  Control key turns off bits 5 and 6 and the Meta key turns on bit 7.
  
  For further information, see `Characters' and `Keys' in the online manual.
  
  NOTE: C-? (aka DEL) is ASCII code 127.  It is a misnomer to call C-? a
  "control" key, since 127 has both bits 5 and 6 turned ON.  Also, on very
  few keyboards does Control-? generate ASCII code 127.
  
2:   What does "M-x command" mean?
  
  "M-x command" means type M-x, then type the name of the command, then
  type RET.
  
  M-x (by default) invokes the command `execute-extended-command'.  This
  command allows you to run any Emacs command if you can remember the
  command's name.  If you can't remember the command's name, you can type
  TAB and SPC for completion, and "?" for a list of possibilities.  An Emacs
  "command" is any "interactive" Emacs function.
  
  NOTE: Your system administrator may have bound other key sequences to
  invoke execute-extended-command.  A function key labeled `Do' is a good
  candidate for this.
  
  To run non-interactive Emacs functions, see question 53.
  
3:   How do I read topic XXX in the on-line manual?
  
  When I refer you to topic XXX in the on-line manual, you can read this
  manual node inside Emacs (assuming nothing is broken) by typing this:
  
    C-h i m emacs RET m XXX RET
  
  This invokes the Info facility.  If you don't already know how to use
  Info, type "?" from within Info.
  
  If I refer you to topic XXX:YYY, you need to type this:
  
    C-h i m emacs RET m XXX RET m YYY RET
  
  WARNING: Your system administrator may not have installed the Info files,
  or may have installed them properly.  In this case you should complain.
  
4:   What do these mean: etc/SERVICE, src/config.h, lisp/default.el?
  
  These are files that come with GNU Emacs.  The GNU Emacs distribution is
  divided into subdirectories; the important ones are `etc', `lisp', and
  `src'.
  
  If you use GNU Emacs, but don't know where it is kept on your system,
  start Emacs, then type "C-h v exec-directory RET".  The directory name
  displayed by this will be the full pathname of the installed `etc'
  directory.
  
  Some of these files are available individually via FTP or e-mail, see
  question 20.  All are available in the source distribution.
  
5:   What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
  
  FSF == Free Software Foundation
  LPF == League for Programming Freedom
  OSF == Open Software Foundation
  GNU == GNU's Not Unix
  RMS == Richard Matthew Stallman
  FTP == File Transfer Protocol
  GPL == GNU General Public Licence
  
  NOTE: Avoid confusing the FSF, the LPF, and the OSF.  The LPF opposes
  look-and-feel copyrights and software patents.  The FSF aims to make high
  quality free software available for everyone.  The OSF is a commercial
  organization which wants to provide an alternative, standardized version
  of Unix not controlled by AT&T.
  
  NOTE: The word "free" in the title of the Free Software Foundation refers
  to "freedom", not "zero dollars".  Anyone can charge any price for
  GPL-covered software that they want to.  However, in practice, the freedom
  enforced by the GPL leads to low prices, because you can always get the
  software for less money from someone else, because everyone has the right
  to resell or give away GPL-covered software.
  


General Questions

6:   What is the LPF and why should I join it?
  
  The LPF opposes the expanding danger of software patents and look-and-feel
  copyrights.  To get more information, feel free to contact the LPF via
  e-mail or otherwise.  {You may also contact me, jbw@cs.bu.edu; I will be
  happy to talk with you about the LPF.}  Here is the contact information:
  
    E-mail address: league@prep.ai.mit.edu
    Phone number: (617) 243-4091
    Postal address:
      League for Programming Freedom
      1 Kendall Square, Number 143
      Post Office Box 9171
      Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
  
  Papers describing the LPF's views are available on the internet and also
  from the LPF:
  
    Anonymous FTP:
      /prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/lpf/
      /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/lpf/
    Anonymous UUCP:
      osu-cis!~/lpf/*
  
7:   What is the real legal meaning of the GNU copyleft?
  
  The real legal meaning of the GNU General Public Licence (copyleft) is
  however it is interpreted by a judge.  There has never been a copyright
  infringment case involving the GPL to set any precedents.  Please take any
  discussion regarding this issue to the newsgroup gnu.misc.discuss, which
  was created to hold the extensive flame wars on the subject.
  
  RMS writes:
  
    The legal meaning of the GNU copyleft is less important than the spirit,
    which is that Emacs is a free software project and that work pertaining
    to Emacs should also be free software.  "Free" means that all users have
    the freedom to study, share, change and improve Emacs.  To make sure
    everyone has this freedom, pass along source code when you distribute
    any version of Emacs or a related program, and give the recipients the
    same freedom that you enjoyed.
  
8:   What are appropriate messages for gnu.emacs.help, gnu.emacs.bug,
 comp.emacs, etc.?
  
  The file etc/MAILINGLISTS discusses the purpose of each GNU mailing-list.
  (See question 20 on how to get a copy.)  For those which are gatewayed
  with newsgroups, it lists both the newsgroup name and the mailing list
  address.
  
  comp.emacs is for discussion of Emacs programs in general.  This
  includes GNU Emacs along with various other implementations like JOVE,
  MicroEmacs, Freemacs, MG, Unipress, CCA, Epsilon, etc.
  
  Many people post GNU Emacs questions to comp.emacs because they don't
  receive any of the gnu.* newsgroups.  Arguments have been made both for
  and against posting GNU-Emacs-specific material to comp.emacs.  You have
  to decide for yourself.
  
  Messages advocating "non-free" software are considered unacceptable on any
  of the gnu.* newsgroups except for gnu.misc.discuss, which was created to
  hold the extensive flame-wars on the subject.  "non-free" software
  includes any software for which the end user can't freely modify the
  source code and exchange enhancements.  Be careful to remove the gnu.*
  groups from the `Newsgroups:' line when posting a followup that recommends
  such software.
  
  gnu.emacs.bug is a place where bug reports appear, but avoid posting bug
  reports to this newsgroup, instead see question 10.
  
9:   Where can I get old postings to gnu.emacs.help and other GNU groups?
  
  The FSF has maintained archives of all of the GNU mailing lists for many
  years, although there may be some unintentional gaps in coverage.  The
  archive is not particularly well organized or easy to retrieve individual
  postings from, but pretty much everything is there.
  
    Anonymous FTP:
      /prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/MailingListArchives/
  
  There is a WAIS database named `comp.emacs' on wais.oit.unc.edu that
  makes available the last few days of articles in comp.emacs.
  
10:  Where should I report bugs and other problems with GNU Emacs?
  
  The correct way to report GNU Emacs bugs is by e-mail to
  bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu.  Anything sent here also appears in the
  newsgroup gnu.emacs.bug, but please use e-mail instead of news to submit
  the bug report.  This way a reliable return address is available so you
  can be contacted for further details.
  
  RMS explains:
  
    Sending bug reports to help-gnu-emacs (which has the effect of posting
    on gnu.emacs.help) is undesirable because it takes the time of an
    unnecessarily large group of people, most of whom are just users and
    have no idea how to fix these problem.  bug-gnu-emacs reaches a much
    smaller group of people who are more likely to know what to do and have
    expressed a wish to receive more messages about Emacs than the others.
  
  However, RMS says there are circumstances when it is okay to post to
  gnu.emacs.help:
  
    If you have reported a bug and you don't hear about a possible fix, then
    after a suitable delay (such as a week) it is okay to post on
    gnu.emacs.help asking if anyone can help you.
  
  If you are unsure whether you have a bug, RMS describes how to tell:
  
    ... if Emacs crashes, that is a bug.  If Emacs gets compilation errors
    while building, that is a bug.  If Emacs crashes while building, that is
    a bug.  If Lisp code does not do what the documentation says it does,
    that is a bug.
  
11:  How do I unsubscribe to this mailing list?
  
  If you are receiving a GNU mailing list named `XXX', you might be able
  to unsubscribe to it by sending a request to the address
  `XXX-request@prep.ai.mit.edu'.  However, this will not work if you are
  not listed on the main mailing list, but instead recieve the mail from a
  distribution point.  In that case, you will have to track down at which
  distribution point you are listed.  Inspecting the `Received:' headers
  on the mail messages may help, along with liberal use of the `EXPN' or
  `VRFY' sendmail commands through `telnet <site-address> smtp'.  Ask your
  postmaster for help.
  
12:  What is the current address of the FSF?
  
  E-mail address: gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu
  Phone number: (617) 876-3296
  Postal address:
    Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    675 Massachusetts Avenue
    Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
  


On-line Help, Printed Manuals, Other Sources of Help

13:  I'm just starting GNU Emacs; how do I do basic editing?
  
  Type "C-h t" to invoke the self-paced tutorial.  Typing just C-h is
  how to enter the help system.
  
  WARNING: Your system administrator may have changed C-h to act like DEL to
  deal local keyboards.  You can use M-x help-for-help instead to invoke
  help.  To discover what key (if any) invokes help on your system, type
  "M-x where-is RET help-for-help RET".  This will print a comma-separated
  list of key sequences in the echo area.  Ignore the last character in each
  key sequence listed.  Each of the resulting key sequences invokes help.
  
  NOTE: Emacs's help facility works best if help is invoked by a single key
  whose value should be stored in the variable help-char.  Andrew
  Arensburger <arensb@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov> wrote a patch that allows the help
  facility to work properly when invoked by multiple character sequences.
  
14:  How do I find out how to do something in GNU Emacs?
  
  There are several methods for finding out how to do things in Emacs.
  
  * The complete text of the Emacs manual is available online via the Info
    hypertext reader.  Type "C-h i" to invoke Info.
  
  * You can order a hardcopy of the manual from the FSF.  See question 15.
  
  * You can get a printed reference card listing commands and keys to invoke
    them.  You can order one from the FSF for $1 (or 10 for $5), or you can
    print your own from the etc/refcard.tex file in the Emacs distribution.
    {Are PostScript versions of this available for FTP?}
  
  * You can list all of the commands whose names contain a certain word
    (actually which match a regular expression) using "C-h a"
    (M-x command-apropos).
  
  * You can list all of the functions and variables whose names contain a
    certain word using M-x apropos.
  
  * There are many other commands in Emacs for getting help and information.
    To get a list of these commands, type "C-h C-h C-h".
  
  NOTE: You may find that command-apropos and apropos are extremely slow
  on your system.  This will be fixed in Emacs 19.  If you can't wait that
  long, there is a fast-apropos.el file available in the Emacs Lisp
  Archive (see question 89) that contains the fix.
  
15:  How do I get a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual?
  
  You can order a printed copy of the GNU Emacs manual from the FSF for
  $20.  For 6 or more manuals the price is $13 each.  The price may be
  tax-deductible as a business expense.
  
  The full TeX source for the manual also comes in the `man' directory of
  the Emacs distribution, if you're daring enough to try to print out this
  300 page manual yourself (see question 18).
  
  If you absolutely have to print your own copy, and you don't have TeX, you
  can get a PostScript version via anonymous FTP:
  
    /cs.ubc.ca:pub/archive/gnu/manuals_ps/emacs-18.57.ps.Z                   !
  
  which site requests that you please CONFINE ANY MAJOR FTPING TO LATE
  EVENINGS OR EARLY MORNINGS OUR TIME (pacific time zone, GMT-8)).  A DVI
  version is also available via FTP:
  
    /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/emacs-manual-6.0.dvi.Z
  
  If you don't have TeX you can convert the Texinfo sources into
  {t,n,ps}roff format with the `texi2roff' program, which is available via
  anonymous FTP:
  
    /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/texi2roff/texi2roff.shar.Z
  
  See also question 14 for how to view the manual online.
  
16:  Where can I get documentation on GNU Emacs Lisp?
  
  Within Emacs, you can type "C-h f" to get the documentation for a
  function, "C-h v" for a variable.
  
  For more information, obtain the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual for Emacs
  18 under Unix.  It is available from the FSF for $50 (or 5 for $200).  The
  latest revision available for FTP is edition 1.03 dated 28 January 1991.
  
  For online use, a set of pregenerated Info files is available with the
  Texinfo source for the Emacs Lisp manual via anonymous FTP:
  
    /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/gnu/emacs/
    /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/elisp-manual-1.03.tar.Z
  
  (You can also create the Info files from the Texinfo source.)  See
  question 17 for details on how to install these files online.
  
  If you are daring enough to try to print this 550 page manual out
  yourself, for instructions see question 18.
  
  Also, as a popular USENET saying goes, "Use the Force, Read the Source".
  
17:  How do I install a piece of Texinfo documentation?
  
  First create Info files from the Texinfo files with the `makeinfo'
  program.  makeinfo is available as part of the latest Texinfo package:
  
    /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/texinfo-2.14.tar.Z
  
  For information about the Texinfo format, read the Texinfo manual which
  comes with Emacs.  This manual also comes installed in Info format, so you
  can read it online.
  
  Neither texinfo-format-buffer nor the makeinfo program install the
  resulting Info files in Emacs's Info tree.  To install Info files:
  
  1. Move the files to the `info' directory in the installed Emacs
     distribution.  See question 4 if you don't know where that
     is.
  
  2. Edit the file info/dir in the installed Emacs distribution, and add a
     line for the top level node in the Info package that you are
     installing.  Follow the examples are already in this file.  The format
     is:
  
       * Topic: (relative-pathname).  Short description of topic.
  
  If you want to install Info files and you don't have the necessary
  privileges, you have several options:
  
  * Info files don't actually need to be installed before being used.  You
    can feed a file name to the Info-goto-node command (invoked by pressing
    "g" in Info mode) by typing the name of the file in parentheses.  This
    goes to the node named `Top' in that file.  For example, to view a Info
    file named `XXX' in your home directory, you can type this:
  
      C-h i g (~/XXX) RET
  
  * You can create your own Info directory.  You can tell Emacs where the
    Info directory is by setting the value of the variable Info-directory
    to its pathname.  For example, to use a private Info directory which
    is a subdirectory of your home directory named `Info', you could do
    this:
  
      (setq Info-directory (expand-file-name "~/Info"))
  
    You will need a top-level Info file named `dir' in this directory.
    You can include the system-wide Info directory in your private Info
    directory with symbolic links or by copying it.
  
  * You can use an enhanced version of lisp/info.el that handles multiple
    Info directories.  Then you can more easily use a mix of private and
    shared Info files.  Dave Gillespie <daveg@synaptics.com,
    daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu> has written one such enhancement and I
    believe there are others.  Dave's info.el also handles compressed Info
    files.
  
    Anonymous FTP:
      /archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:modes/info.el.Z
      /ftp.uu.net:languages/emacs-lisp/modes/info.el.Z                       !
  
    According to Jay Bourland <jayb@math.stanford.edu>, a version of Dave's
    info.el comes with `xinfo' (see question 19).
  
18:  How do I print a Texinfo file?
  
  NOTE: You can't get nice printed output from Info files; you must still
  have the original Texinfo source file for the manual you want to print.
  
  1. Make sure the first line of the Texinfo file looks like this:
  
       \input texinfo
  
     You may need to alter `texinfo' to the full pathname of the
     texinfo.tex file, which comes with Emacs as man/texinfo.tex (or copy
     or link it into the current directory).
  
  2. tex XXX.texinfo
  
  3. texindex XXX.??
  
     The `texindex' program comes with Emacs as man/texindex.c.
  
  4. tex XXX.texinfo
  
  5. Print the DVI file XXX.dvi in the normal way for printing DVI files
     at your site.
  
  To get more general instructions, retrieve the latest Texinfo package
  mentioned in question 17.
  
19:  Can I view Info files without using GNU Emacs?
  
  Yes, the `info', `xinfo', and `ivinfo' programs do this.  info uses
  curses, xinfo uses standard X11 libraries, and ivinfo uses InterViews.
  You can get info as part of the latest Texinfo package (see question
  17).  xinfo is available separately:
  
    /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/xinfo-1.01.01.tar.Z
    /export.lcs.mit.edu:
  
  ivinfo is available in a comp.sources.misc archive or from Tom Horsley
  <tom@ssd.csd.harris.com>.  For ivinfo, you need Stanford's InterViews C++
  X library, available via anonymous FTP (interviews.stanford.edu).
  
20:  What informational files are available for GNU Emacs?
  
  This isn't a frequently asked question, but it should be!  A variety of
  informational files about GNU Emacs and relevant aspects of the GNU
  project are available for you to read.
  
  The following files are available in the `etc' directory of the GNU
  Emacs distribution, and also the latest versions are available
  individually via anonymous FTP (prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/GNUinfo/):
  
    APPLE -- Why the FSF doen't support GNU Emacs on Apple computers
    DISTRIB -- GNU Emacs Availability Information,
      including the popular "Free Software Foundation Order Form"
    FTP -- How to get GNU Software by Internet FTP or by UUCP
    GNU -- The GNU Manifesto
    INTERVIEW -- Richard Stallman discusses his public-domain
		       UNIX-compatible software system
			      with BYTE editors
    MACHINES -- Status of GNU Emacs on Various Machines and Systems
    MAILINGLISTS -- GNU Project Electronic Mailing Lists
    SERVICE -- GNU Service Directory
    SUN-SUPPORT -- including "Using Emacstool with GNU Emacs"
  
  These files are available in the `etc' directory of the GNU Emacs
  distribution:
  
    DIFF -- Differences between GNU Emacs and Twenex Emacs
    CCADIFF -- Differences between GNU Emacs and CCA Emacs
    GOSDIFF -- Differences between GNU Emacs and Gosling (Unipress??) Emacs
    COPYING -- GNU Emacs General Public License
    NEWS -- GNU Emacs News, a history of user-visible changes
    LPF -- Why you should join the League for Programming Freedom
    FAQ -- GNU Emacs Frequently Asked Questions (You're reading it)
    OPTIONS -- a complete explanation of startup option handling
  
  These files are available via anonymous FTP (prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/):
  
    tasks -- GNU Task List
    standards.text -- GNU Coding Standards
  
  In addition, all of the above files are available directly from the FSF
  via e-mail.  Of course, please try to get them from a local source
  first.
  
  These additional files are available from the FSF via e-mail:
  
  * GNU's Bulletin, June, 1991 -- this file includes:
      GNU'S Who
      What Is the Free Software Foundation?
      What Is Copyleft?
      A Small Way to Help Free Software
      GNUs Flashes (important recent developments for project GNU)
      Free Software Support (and how to get it!)
      Copyrighted Programming Languages
      AT&T Threatens Users of X Windows (and other software patent threats)
      Project Gutenberg
      GNU Project Status Report
      GNU in Japan
      GNU Wish List
      Help Keep Government Software Free
      GNU Software Available Now
        Contents of the Emacs Tape
        Contents of the Compiler Tape
        Contents of the X11 Tapes
        VMS Emacs and Compiler Tapes
      GNU Documentation
      How to Get GNU Software
      Free Software for Microcomputers
        GNU Software on Apple computers
        GNU Software on the Amiga
        GNU Software on the Atari
        GNUish MS-DOS project
        Freemacs, an Extensible Editor for MS-DOS
      GNU in Japan
      FSF Order Form
      Thank GNUs
  * Legal issues about contributing code to GNU
  * GNU Project Status Report
  
  A collection of past GNU's Bulletins is available via anonymous FTP:
  
    /ftp.funet.fi:pub/gnu/Bulletins/
  
21:  Where can I get help in installing GNU Emacs?
  
  Look in etc/SERVICE for names of companies and individuals who will sell
  you this type of service.  An up-to-date version of the SERVICE file is
  available on prep.ai.mit.edu (also see question 20).
  
22:  Where can I get the latest version of this document (the FAQ list)?
  
  The GNU Emacs FAQ is available in several ways:
  
  * Via USENET.  If you can read news, the FAQ should be available in your
    news spool, in both the gnu.emacs.help and comp.emacs newsgroups.  Every
    news reader of which I know will allow you to read any news article that
    is still in the news spool, even if you have read the article before.
    You may need to read the instructions for your news reader to discover
    how to do this.  In `rn', this command will do this for you at the
    article selection level:
  
      ?GNU Emacs FAQ?rc:m
  
    In GNUS, you should type "C-u G" from the *Subject* buffer or "C-u SPC"
    from the *Newsgroup* buffer to view all articles in a newsgroup.
  
    The FAQ articles' message IDs are:
  
      <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-0.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu>                           !
      <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-1.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu>                           !
      <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-2.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu>                           !
      <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-3.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu>                           !
      <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-4.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu>                           !
      <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-5.1993.05.04.025218@rice.edu>                           !
  
    If you are viewing this in the GNUS *Article* buffer, you can move point
    within one of the above message IDs and type "r" to fetch the referenced
    article.  Type "o" in the *Article* buffer to restore the previous
    contents.  If this text is not in the GNUS *Article* buffer, use M-r
    from the *Subject* buffer instead.
  
    If the FAQ articles have expired and been deleted from your news spool,
    it might (or might not) do some good to complain to your news
    administrator, because the most recent FAQ should not expire before
    July 3, 1993.                                                            !
  
  * Via anonymous FTP.  You can fetch the FAQ articles via anonymous FTP
  
      /rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/ part*
  
  * Via e-mail.  You can send the following magical incantation in the body
    of a message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu:
  
      send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part0
      send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part1
      send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part2
      send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part3
      send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part4
      send usenet/news.answers/GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part5
  
  * Via WAIS.  The GNU Emacs FAQ is available via WAIS indexed on a
    per-question basis from the `faq' database on bigbird.bu.edu on the
    non-standard IP port number of 2210.  This is probably the best way to
    find out if there is something in the FAQ related to your question.  I
    use this myself to answer questions I see posted on gnu.emacs.help.
  
    The articles of the GNU Emacs FAQ are also available from the `usenet'
    database on rtfm.mit.edu (on the standard IP port: 210), along with a
    lot of other FAQ articles.  However, these are all indexed at the whole
    article level instead of at the question level.  This is a better place
    to look if you want to fetch the entire FAQ.
  
  * In the GNU Emacs distribution.  Since GNU Emacs 18.56, the latest
    available version of the FAQ at the time of release has been part of the
    GNU Emacs distribution as file etc/FAQ.  18.59 is the latest version,
    and it was released in October 1992.
  
  * There is an old version of the FAQ list available for FTP in the GNU
    archives at MIT:
  
      /prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/GNUinfo/FAQ.emacs
  
  * As the very last resort, you can e-mail a request to
    gnu-emacs-faq-maintainers@bigbird.bu.edu.  Don't do this unless you have
    made a serious effort to obtain the FAQ list via one of the methods
    listed above.
  


Status of Emacs

23:  Where does the name "Emacs" come from?
  
  Emacs originally was an acronym for Editor MACroS.  RMS says he "picked
  the name `Emacs' because `E' was not in use as an abbreviation on ITS at
  the time.".  The first Emacs was a set of macros written in 1976 at MIT by
  RMS for the editor TECO (Text Editor and COrrector (originally Tape Editor
  and COrrector)) under ITS on a PDP-10.  RMS had already extended TECO with
  a "real-time" full screen mode with active keys.  Emacs was started by Guy
  Steele <gls@think.com> as a project to unify the many divergent TECO
  command sets and keybindings at MIT.
  
  Many people have told me that TECO code looks a lot like line noise.  See
  alt.lang.teco if you are interested.  I think someone has written a TECO
   implementation in Emacs Lisp.  It would be an interesting project to run
  the original TECO Emacs inside of GNU Emacs.
  
24:  What is the latest version of GNU Emacs?
  
  GNU Emacs 18.59 is the current version.  Fixes from 18.57 include better
  mail address parsing, an X visual bell speedup, a call-process
  enhancement, a regexp matching change, the ability to apply a numeric
  argument to a self-inserting digit, getting X resource values from the
  RESOURCE_MANAGER property, more reliable shell mode job control, and a
  change to copy-keymap.  Also, support has been added for many new system
  types.  Fixes from 18.55 include the removal of arbitrary limits on the
  undo facility.
  
  According to the January 1992 GNU's Bulletin, "Emacs 18 maintenance
  continues for simple bug fixes.".
  
  To visit a file with information about what has changed in recent
  versions, type "C-h n".
  
25:  When will GNU Emacs 19 be available?
  
  Richard Stallman recently (February 19, 1993) posted in gnu.emacs.help     !
  the following:                                                             !
                                                                             !
    People should keep in mind that the successor of Emacs 18 does not       !
    come from Lucid.  Its is GNU Emacs 19.  I still can't say exactly when   !
    public release is going to be, but we are about to start testing at a    !
    number of sites.                                                         !
                                                                             !
    GNU Emacs 19 will support a broad spectrum of machines, like Emacs       !
    18.  Ensuring this is the purpose of the testing we are about to do.     !
                                                                             !
    (Please don't volunteer; we have enough pretesters, and if more people   !
    offer, dealing with those messages will slow things down.)               !
                                                                             !
    Once we make sure it is indeed working reliably on various different     !
    systems, we will have a public beta test release.                        !
                                                                             !
    Emacs 19 does support adding properties to ranges of text, and using     !
    these to switch fonts.  In the future, the Epoch people will help        !
    merge support for variable-width fonts.                                  !
                                                                             !
    Meanwhile, I have almost finished updating the Emacs Lisp manual.  Its   !
    next edition will describe Emacs 19.  There will be an announcement      !
    when we know when this edition will be available.                        !

  Lucid has released Lucid GNU Emacs 19.6, which is based on an early        !
  unreleased version of GNU Emacs 19.  This will be similar to Emacs 19 when
  it finally arrives, but they are not the same.  See question 121.
  
  Work has begun on features for Emacs 20.
  
26:  What is different about GNU Emacs 19?
  
  From the January 1992 GNU's Bulletin:
  
    Version 19 will enter beta test late this year.  Among its new features
    are: before and after change hooks, source-level debugging of Emacs Lisp
    programs, X selection processing (including clipboard selections),
    scrollbars, support for European character sets, floating point numbers,
    per-buffer mouse commands, X resource manager interfacing,
    mouse-tracking, Lisp-level binding of function keys, multiple X windows
    (`screens' to Emacs), a new input system, and buffer allocation, which
    uses a new mechanism capable of returning storage to the system when a
    buffer is killed.
  
    The input stream is now a sequence of Lisp objects, instead of a
    sequence of characters.  This allows a reasonable representation for
    mouse clicks, function keys, menu selections, etc.
  
    Thanks go to Alan Carroll and the people who worked on Epoch for
    generating initial feedback to a multi-windowed Emacs, and to Eric
    Raymond for help in polishing the Emacs 19 Lisp libraries.
  
  The June 1991 GNU's bulletin had this to say about future plans for Emacs:
  
    Features being considered for later releases of Emacs include:
    associating property lists with regions of text in a buffer; multiple
    fonts, color, and pixmaps defined by those properties; different
    visibility conditions for the regions, and for various windows showing
    one buffer; hooks to be run if point or mouse moves outside a certain
    range; incrementally saving undo history in a file; static menu bars;
    and better pop-up menus.
  
  Mention of this feature disappeared in the January 1992 GNU's bulletin:
  
    Emacs 19 supports two styles of multiple windows, one with a separate
    screen for the minibuffer, and another with a minibuffer attached to
    each screen.
  
  Mention of these two proposed features disappeared in the January 1991
  GNU's bulletin:
  
  * Incremental syntax analysis for various programming languages (Leif).
  * A more sophisticated emacsclient/server model, which would provide
    network transparent Emacs widget functionality.
  
27:  What variants of GNU Emacs exist?
  
  * Nemacs (Nihongo Emacs), which can handle Japanese text, is derived from
    GNU Emacs 18.55.  See question 149.
  
  * Demacs, which can run under MS-DOS on 386 machines, is derived from
    Nemacs.  See question 122.
  
  * Epoch, which has better X support, is derived from GNU Emacs 18.58.
    See question 120 and 92.
  
  * Nepoch (Nihongo Epoch), which can handle Japanese text, is derived from
    Epoch.
  
  * Mule (the MULtilingual Enhancement of GNU Emacs) can handle many
    character sets simultaneously.  It is derived from Emacs 18.58.  It is
    available for FTP:
  
      /sh.wide.ad.jp:/JAPAN/mule/
      /etlport.etl.go.jp:/pub/mule/
  
  * Lucid GNU Emacs is derived from an early unreleased version of GNU Emacs
    19.  See question 121 and 92.
  


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992 Joseph Brian Wells
Copyright (C) 1992, 1993 Steven Byrnes

This list of frequently asked questions about GNU Emacs with answers
("FAQ") may be translated into other languages, transformed into other
formats (e.g. Texinfo, Info, WWW, WAIS, etc.), and updated with new
information.  The same conditions apply to any derivative of the FAQ as
apply to the FAQ itself.  Every copy of the FAQ must include this notice
or an approved translation, information on who is currently maintaining
the FAQ and how to contact them (including their e-mail address), and
information on where the latest version of the FAQ is archived (including
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work unless that work itself allows free copying and redistribution.