On Friday 07 March 2003 17:34, James Sparenberg wrote: > Just a side thought...if kdeartworks is wanted... could the program > xemacs (Note emacs-X11) be swapped out. Since emacs-X11 is the > replacement for xemacs with superior functionality I'm told.... this > might be the time to take a look at some of the unused legacy here.
The simple answer is that no xemacs devotee is going to accept eliminating xemacs for GNU emacs (the emacs-X11 package), and no GNU emacs devotee is going to accept eliminating GNU emacs for XEmacs, and even thinking about it quietly in a locked room could spark a holy war.... If you want to know more about the split, start at http://www.xemacs.org/About/XEmacsVsGNUemacs.html and go as far as you're interested from there. It's an entertaining story with a long history (and I'd love to know whether it changes your opinion of Richard M. Stallman--and, if so, in which way). If you're interested in the practical differences: Frankly, for most users, nearly anything you're going to want to, you can do just as easily in either one--in fact, both of them can even run most of the others' scripts. But this hasn't been true for that long--before version 21 of each, there were definite areas in which each one was clearly superior, and many more areas in which they were just very different. And if you're not using a real *nix/X platform with a decent packaging system, there are still clear differences. And even today, within the *nix world, a fan of either one can point out a whole list of superiorities in their Emacs of choice which will sound very convincing to a halfway-knowledgeable outsider. If you're just looking for a non-controversial way to free up space on the Mandrake CD's, look elsewhere.
