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- From: Reuven M. Lerner <reuven@netvision.net.il>
- Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help,comp.emacs,comp.answers,news.answers
- Subject: GNU Emacs Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), part 3/5
- Supersedes: <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-3_916181825@news.netvision.net.il>
- Followup-To: gnu.emacs.help
- Date: 10 Feb 1999 20:02:44 +0200
- Organization: GNU Emacs FAQ Central
- Lines: 948
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
- Expires: 21 Mar 1999 17:55:28 GMT
- Message-ID: <GNU-Emacs-FAQ-3_918669328@news.netvision.net.il>
- Reply-To: reuven@netvision.net.il
- NNTP-Posting-Host: ras2-p84.hfa.netvision.net.il
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- NNTP-Posting-Date: 10 Feb 1999 18:04:53 GMT
- Summary: Questions and answers having to do with GNU Emacs
- Keywords: GNU Emacs editors questions
- Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu gnu.emacs.help:61420 comp.emacs:51514 comp.answers:35010 news.answers:150982
-
- Archive-name: GNU-Emacs-FAQ/part3
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- 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. Type RET to end the search.
-
- If you have w3-mode installed (see question 111), you can visit ftp and
- HTTP uniform resource locators (URLs) by placing the cursor on the URL and
- typing M-x w3-follow-url-at-point.
-
- The FAQ is posted in five parts; if you are missing a section or would
- prefer to read the FAQ in a single file, see question 22.
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
- Bugs/Problems
-
- 71: Does Emacs have problems with files larger than 8 megabytes?
-
- Old versions (i.e., anything before 19.29) of Emacs had problems editing
- files larger than 8 megabytes. As of version 19.29, the maximum buffer
- size is at least 2^27-1, or 134,217,727 bytes.
-
- If you are using an older version of Emacs and cannot upgrade, you will
- have to recompile. Leonard N. Zubkoff <lnz@lucid.com> suggests putting
- the following two lines in src/config.h before compiling Emacs to allow
- for 26-bit integers and pointers (and thus file sizes of up to 33,554,431
- bytes):
-
- #define VALBITS 26
- #define GCTYPEBITS 5
-
- WARNING: This method may result in "ILLEGAL DATATYPE" and other random
- errors on some machines.
-
- David Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu> explains how this problems
- crops up; while his numbers are true only for pre-19.29 versions of
- Emacs, the theory remains the same with current versions.
-
- Emacs is largely written in a dialect of Lisp; Lisp is a freely-typed
- language in the sense that you can put any value of any type into any
- variable, or return it from a function, and so on. So each value must
- carry a "tag" along with it identifying what kind of thing it is, e.g.,
- integer, pointer to a list, pointer to an editing buffer, and so on.
- Emacs uses standard 32-bit integers for data objects, taking the top 8
- bits for the tag and the bottom 24 bits for the value. So integers
- (and pointers) are somewhat restricted compared to true C integers and
- pointers.
-
- 72: How do I get rid of ^M or echoed commands in my shell buffer?
-
- Try typing "M-x shell-strip-ctrl-m RET" while in shell-mode to make them
- go away. If that doesn't work, you have several options:
-
- For tcsh, put this in your .cshrc (or .tcshrc) file:
-
- if ($?EMACS) then
- if ("$EMACS" == t) then
- if ($?tcsh) unset edit
- stty nl
- endif
- endif
-
- Or put this in your .emacs_tcsh file:
-
- unset edit
- stty nl
-
- Alternatively, use csh in your shell buffers instead of tcsh. One way
- is:
-
- (setq explicit-shell-file-name "/bin/csh")
-
- and another is to do this in your .cshrc (or .tcshrc) file:
-
- setenv ESHELL /bin/csh
-
- (You must start Emacs over again with the environment variable properly
- set for this to take effect.)
-
- You can also set the ESHELL environment variable in Emacs Lisp with
- the following Lisp form,
-
- (setenv "ESHELL" "/bin/csh")
-
- On a related note: If your shell is echoing your input line in the shell
- buffer, you might want to try the following command in your shell
- start-up file:
-
- stty -icrnl -onlcr -echo susp ^Z
-
- 73: Why do I get "Process shell exited abnormally with code 1"?
-
- The most likely reason for this message is that the "env" program is not
- properly installed. Compile this program for your architecture, and
- install it with a+x permission in the architecture-dependent Emacs
- program directory. (You can find what this directory is at your site by
- inspecting the value of the variable exec-directory by typing "C-h v
- exec-directory RET".)
-
- You should also check for other programs named "env" in your path (e.g.,
- SunOS has a program named /usr/bin/env). We don't understand why this
- can cause a failure and don't know a general solution for working around
- the problem in this case.
-
- The "make clean" command will remove "env" and other vital programs, so
- be careful when using it.
-
- It has been reported that this sometimes happened when Emacs was started
- as an X client from an xterm window (i.e., had a controlling tty) but the
- xterm was later terminated.
-
- See also PROBLEMS (in the top-level directory when you unpack the Emacs
- source) for other possible causes of this message.
-
- 74: Where is the termcap/terminfo entry for terminal type "emacs"?
-
- The termcap entry for terminal type "emacs" is ordinarily put in the
- TERMCAP environment variable of subshells. It may help in certain
- situations (e.g., using rlogin from shell buffer) to add an entry for
- "emacs" to the system-wide termcap file. Here is a correct termcap entry
- for "emacs":
-
- emacs:tc=unknown:
-
- To make a terminfo entry for "emacs", use "tic" or "captoinfo." You need
- to generate /usr/lib/terminfo/e/emacs. It may work to simply copy
- /usr/lib/terminfo/d/dumb to /usr/lib/terminfo/e/emacs.
-
- Having a termcap/terminfo entry will not enable the use of full screen
- programs in shell buffers. Use M-x terminal-emulator for that instead.
-
- A workaround to the problem of missing termcap/terminfo entries is to
- change terminal type "emacs" to type "dumb" or "unknown" in your shell
- start up file. "csh" users could put this in their .cshrc files:
-
- if ("$term" == emacs) set term=dumb
-
- 75: Why does Emacs spontaneously start displaying "I-search:" and beeping?
-
- Your terminal (or something between your terminal and the computer) is
- sending C-s and C-q for flow control, and Emacs is receiving these
- characters and interpreting them as commands. (The C-s character
- normally invokes the isearch-forward command.) For possible solutions,
- see question 122.
-
- 76: Why can't Emacs talk to certain hosts (or certain hostnames)?
-
- The problem may be that Emacs is linked with a wimpier version of
- gethostbyname than the rest of the programs on the machine. This is
- often manifested as a message on startup of "X server not responding.
- Check your DISPLAY environment variable." or a message of "Unknown host"
- from open-network-stream.
-
- On a Sun, this may be because Emacs had to be linked with the static C
- library. The version of gethostbyname in the static C library may only
- look in /etc/hosts and the NIS (YP) maps, while the version in the
- dynamic C library may be smart enough to check DNS in addition to or
- instead of NIS. On a Motorola Delta running System V R3.6, the version
- of gethostbyname in the standard library works, but the one that works
- with NIS doesn't (the one you get with -linet). Other operating systems
- have similar problems.
-
- Try these options:
-
- * Explicitly add the host you want to communicate with to /etc/hosts.
-
- * Relink Emacs with this line in src/config.h:
-
- #define LIBS_SYSTEM -lresolv
-
- * Replace gethostbyname and friends in libc.a with more useful versions
- such as the ones in libresolv.a. Then relink Emacs.
-
- * If you are actually running NIS, make sure that "ypbind" is properly
- told to do DNS lookups with the correct command line switch.
-
- 77: Why does Emacs say "Error in init file"?
-
- An error occurred while loading either your .emacs file or the
- system-wide lisp/default.el file. For information on how to debug your
- .emacs file, see question 27.
-
- It may be the case that you need to load some package first, or use a
- hook that will be evaluated after the package is loaded. A common case
- of this is explained in question 118.
-
- 78: Why does Emacs ignore my X resources (my .Xdefaults file)?
-
- As of version 19, Emacs searches for X resources in the files specified
- by the XFILESEARCHPATH, XUSERFILESEARCHPATH, and XAPPLRESDIR environment
- variables, emulating the functionality provided by programs written using
- Xt.
-
- XFILESEARCHPATH and XUSERFILESEARCHPATH should be a list of file names
- separated by colons; XAPPLRESDIR should be a list of directory names
- separated by colons.
-
- Emacs searches for X resources
-
- + specified on the command line, with the "-xrm RESOURCESTRING"
- option,
- + then in the value of the XENVIRONMENT environment variable,
- - or if that is unset, in the file named ~/.Xdefaults-HOSTNAME if it
- exists
- (where HOSTNAME is the hostname of the machine Emacs is running on),
- + then in the screen-specific and server-wide resource properties
- provided by the server,
- - or if those properties are unset, in the file named ~/.Xdefaults
- if it exists,
- + then in the files listed in XUSERFILESEARCHPATH,
- - or in files named LANG/Emacs in directories listed in XAPPLRESDIR
- (where LANG is the value of the LANG environment variable), if
- the LANG environment variable is set,
- - or in files named Emacs in the directories listed in XAPPLRESDIR
- - or in ~/LANG/Emacs (if the LANG environment variable is set),
- - or in ~/Emacs,
- + then in the files listed in XFILESEARCHPATH.
-
- 79: Why does Emacs take 20 seconds to visit a file?
-
- Old versions of Emacs (i.e., versions before Emacs 20.x) often
- encountered this when the master lock file, "!!!SuperLock!!!" has been
- left in the lock directory somehow. Delete it.
-
- Mark Meuer <meuer@geom.umn.edu> says that NeXT NFS has a bug where an
- exclusive create succeeds but returns an error status. This can cause
- the same problem. Since Emacs's file locking doesn't work over NFS
- anyway, the best solution is to recompile Emacs with CLASH_DETECTION
- undefined.
-
- 80: How do I edit a file with a `$' in its name?
-
- When entering a filename in the minibuffer, Emacs will attempt to expand
- a `$' followed by a word as an environment variable. To suppress this
- behavior, type "$$" instead.
-
- 81: Why does shell mode lose track of the shell's current directory?
-
- Emacs has no way of knowing when the shell actually changes its
- directory. This is an intrinsic limitation of Unix. So it tries to
- guess by recognizing "cd" commands. If you type "cd" followed by a
- directory name with a variable reference ("cd $HOME/bin") or with a shell
- metacharacter ("cd ../lib*"), Emacs will fail to correctly guess the
- shell's new current directory. A huge variety of fixes and enhancements
- to shell mode for this problem have been written to handle this problem.
- Check the Lisp Code Directory (see question 89).
-
- You can tell Emacs the shell's current directory with the command "M-x
- dirs".
-
- 82: Are there any security risks in Emacs?
-
- * the "movemail" incident (No, this is not a risk.)
-
- In his book "The Cuckoo's Egg," Cliff Stoll describes this in chapter
- 4. The site at LBL had installed the "etc/movemail" program setuid
- root. (As of version 19, movemail is in your architecture-specific
- directory; type "C-h v exec-directory RET" to see what it is.) Since
- "movemail" had not been designed for this situation, a security hole
- was created and users could get root privileges.
-
- "movemail" has since been changed so that this security hole will not
- exist, even if it is installed setuid root. However, movemail no
- longer needs to be installed setuid root, which should eliminate this
- particular risk.
-
- We have heard unverified reports that the 1988 Internet worm took
- advantage of this configuration problem.
-
- * the file-local-variable feature (Yes, a risk, but easy to change.)
-
- There is an Emacs feature that allows the setting of local values for
- variables when editing a file by including specially formatted text
- near the end of the file. This feature also includes the ability to
- have arbitrary Emacs Lisp code evaluated when the file is visited.
- Obviously, there is a potential for Trojan horses to exploit this
- feature.
-
- Emacs 18 allowed this feature by default; users could disable it by
- setting the variable inhibit-local-variables to a non-nil value.
-
- As of Emacs 19, Emacs has a list of local variables that create a
- security risk. If a file tries to set one of them, it asks the user to
- confirm whether the variables should be set. You can also tell Emacs
- whether to allow the evaluation of Emacs Lisp code found at the bottom
- of files by setting the variable enable-local-eval.
-
- For more information, see "File Variables" in the on-line manual.
-
- * synthetic X events (Yes, a risk; use MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 or better.)
-
- Emacs accepts synthetic X events generated by the SendEvent request as
- though they were regular events. As a result, if you are using the
- trivial host-based authentication, other users who can open X
- connections to your X workstation can make your Emacs process do
- anything, including run other processes with your privileges.
-
- The only fix for this is to prevent other users from being able to open
- X connections. The standard way to prevent this is to use a real
- authentication mechanism, such as MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1. If using the
- "xauth" program has any effect, then you are probably using
- MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1. Your site may be using a superior authentication
- method; ask your system administrator.
-
- If real authentication is not a possibility, you may be satisfied by
- just allowing hosts access for brief intervals while you start your X
- programs, then removing the access. This reduces the risk somewhat by
- narrowing the time window when hostile users would have access, but
- DOES NOT ELIMINATE THE RISK.
-
- On most computers running Unix and X Windows, you enable and disable
- access using the "xhost" command. To allow all hosts access to your X
- server, use
-
- xhost +
-
- at the shell prompt, which (on an HP machine, at least) produces the
- following message:
-
- access control disabled, clients can connect from any host
-
- To deny all hosts access to your X server (except those explicitly
- allowed by name), use
-
- xhost -
-
- On the test HP computer, this command generated the following message:
-
- access control enabled, only authorized clients can connect
-
- 83: Dired says, "no file on this line" when I try to do something.
-
- Chances are you're using a localized version of Unix that doesn't
- use US date format in dired listings. You can check this by looking
- at dired listings or by typing `ls -l' to a shell and looking at the
- dates that come out.
-
- Dired uses a regular expression to find the beginning of a file
- name. In a long Unix-style directory listing ("ls -l"), the file
- name starts after the date. The regexp has thus been written to
- look for the date, the format of which can vary on non-US systems.
-
- There are two approaches to solving this. The first one involves
- setting things up so that "ls -l" outputs US date format. This can
- be done by setting the locale. See your OS manual for more
- information.
-
- The second approach involves changing the regular expression used by
- dired, dired-move-to-filename-regexp.
-
-
- Difficulties Building/Installing/Porting Emacs
-
- 84: How do I install Emacs?
-
- This answer is meant for users of Unix and Unix-like systems. Users of
- other operating systems should see the series of questions beginning with
- question 94, which describe where to get non-Unix source and binaries.
- These packages should come with installation instructions.
-
- For Unix and Unix-like systems, the easiest way is often to compile it
- from scratch. You will need:
-
- * Emacs sources. See question 92 for a list of ftp sites that make them
- available. On ftp.gnu.org, the main GNU distribution site, sources are
- available at
-
- ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/emacs/emacs-20.3.tar.gz
-
- The above will obviously change as new versions of Emacs come out. For
- instance, when Emacs 20.4 is released, it will most probably be
- available at
-
- ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/emacs/emacs-20.4.tar.gz
-
- Again, you should use one of the mirror sites in question 92 (and
- adjust the URL accordingly) so as to reduce load on ftp.gnu.org.
-
- * Gzip, the GNU compression utility. You can get gzip via anonymous ftp
- at mirrors of ftp.gnu.org sites; it should compile and install without
- much trouble on most systems. Once you have retrieved the Emacs
- sources, you will probably be able to uncompress them with the command
-
- gunzip --verbose emacs-20.3.tar.gz
-
- changing the Emacs version (20.3), as necessary. Once gunzip has
- finished doing its job, a file by the name of "emacs-20.3.tar" should
- be in your build directory.
-
- * Tar, the "tape archiving" program, which moves multiple files into and
- out of archive files, or "tarfiles." All of the files comprising the
- Emacs source come in a single tarfile, and must be extracted using tar
- before you can build Emacs. Typically, the extraction command would
- look like
-
- tar -xvvf emacs-20.3.tar
-
- The `x' indicates that we want to extract files from this tarfile, the
- two `v's force verbose output, and the `f' tells tar to use a disk
- file, rather than one on tape.
-
- If you're using GNU tar (available at mirrors of ftp.gnu.org), you can
- combine this step and the previous one by using the command
-
- tar -zxvvf emacs-20.3.tar.gz
-
- The additional `z' at the beginning of the options list tells GNU tar
- to uncompress the file with gunzip before extracting the tarfile's
- components.
-
- At this point, the Emacs sources (all 25+ megabytes of them) should be
- sitting in a directory called "emacs-20.3". On most common Unix and
- Unix-like systems, you should be able to compile Emacs (with X Windows
- support) with the following commands:
-
- cd emacs-20.3 [ change directory to emacs-20.3 ]
- ./configure [ configure Emacs for your particular system ]
- make [ use Makefile to build components, then Emacs ]
-
- If the "make" completes successfully, the odds are fairly good that the
- build has gone well. (See question 86 if you weren't successful.)
-
- To install Emacs in its default directories of /usr/local/bin (binaries),
- /usr/local/share/emacs/20.xx (Lisp code and support files), and
- /usr/local/info (Info documentation), become the super-user and type
-
- make install
-
- Note that "make install" will overwrite /usr/local/bin/emacs and any
- Emacs Info files that might be in /usr/local/info.
-
- Much more verbose instructions (with many more hints and suggestions)
- come with the Emacs sources, in the file "INSTALL".
-
- 85: How do I update Emacs to the latest version?
-
- Follow the instructions in question 84.
-
- Emacs places nearly everything in version-specific directories (e.g.,
- /usr/local/share/emacs/20.3), so the only files that can be overwritten
- when installing a new release are /usr/local/bin/emacs and the Emacs Info
- documentation in /usr/local/info. Back up these files before you install
- a new release, and you shouldn't have too much trouble.
-
- 86: What should I do if I have trouble building Emacs?
-
- First look in the file PROBLEMS (in the top-level directory when you
- unpack the Emacs source) to see if there is already a solution for your
- problem. Next, look for other questions in this FAQ that have to do with
- Emacs installation and compilation problems.
-
- If you'd like to have someone look at your problem and help solve it, see
- question 21.
-
- If you don't find a solution, then report your problem via e-mail to
- bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org. Please do not post it to gnu.emacs.help
- or e-mail it to help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org. For further guidelines,
- see question 8 and question 10.
-
- 87: Why does linking Emacs with -lX11 fail?
-
- Emacs needs to be linked with the static version of the X11 library,
- libX11.a. This may be missing.
-
- Under OpenWindows, you may need to use "add_services" to add the
- "OpenWindows Programmers" optional software category from the CD-ROM.
-
- Under HP-UX 8.0, you may need to run "update" again to load the X11-PRG
- "fileset". This may be missing even if you specified "all filesets" the
- first time. If libcurses.a is missing, you may need to load the
- "Berkeley Development Option."
-
- David Zuhn <zoo@armadillo.com> says that MIT X builds shared libraries by
- default, and only shared libraries, on those platforms that support them.
- These shared libraries can't be used when undumping temacs (the last
- stage of the Emacs build process). To get regular libraries in addition
- to shared libraries, add this to site.cf:
-
- #define ForceNormalLib YES
-
- Other systems may have similar problems. You can always define
- CANNOT_DUMP and link with the shared libraries instead.
-
- To get the Xmenu stuff to work, you need to find a copy of MIT's
- liboldX.a.
-
-
- Finding/Getting Emacs and Related Packages
-
- 88: Where can I get Emacs on the net (or by snail mail)?
-
- Look in the files etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for information on nearby
- archive sites and etc/ORDERS for mail orders. If you don't already have
- Emacs, see question 20 for how to get these files.
-
- See question 84 for information on how to obtain and build the latest
- version of Emacs, and question 92 for a list of archive sites that make
- GNU software available.
-
- 89: How do I find a Emacs Lisp package that does XXX?
-
- First of all, you should check to make sure that the package isn't
- already available. For example, typing "M-x apropos RET wordstar RET"
- lists all functions and variables containing the string "wordstar".
-
- It is also possible that the package is on your system, but has not been
- loaded. To see which packages are available for loading, look through
- your computer's lisp directory (see question 4). The Lisp source to most
- most packages contains a short description of how they should be loaded,
- invoked, and configured -- so before you use or modify a Lisp package,
- see if the author has provided any hints in the source code.
-
- If a package does not come with Emacs, check the Lisp Code Directory,
- maintained by Dave Brennan <brennan@hal.com>. The directory is contained
- in the file LCD-datafile.Z, available from the Emacs Lisp Archive (see
- question 90), and is accessed using the "lispdir" package, available from
- the same site. Note that lispdir.el requires crypt++, which you can grab
- from the Emacs Lisp Archive's "misc" subdirectory when you get
- lispdir.el.
-
- Once you have installed lispdir.el and LCD-datafile, you can use "M-x
- lisp-dir-apropos" to search the listing. For example, "M-x
- lisp-dir-apropos RET ange-ftp RET" produces this output:
-
- GNU Emacs Lisp Code Directory Apropos -- "ange-ftp"
- "~/" refers to archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:pub/elisp-archive/
-
- ange-ftp (4.18) 15-Jul-1992
- Andy Norman, <ange@hplb.hpl.hp.com>
- ~/packages/ange-ftp.tar.Z
- transparent FTP Support for GNU Emacs
- auto-save (1.19) 01-May-1992
- Sebastian Kremer, <sk@thp.uni-koeln.de>
- ~/misc/auto-save.el.Z
- Safer autosaving with support for ange-ftp and /tmp
- ftp-quik (1.0) 28-Jul-1993
- Terrence Brannon, <tb06@pl122f.eecs.lehigh.edu>
- ~/modes/ftp-quik.el.Z
- Quik access to dired'ing of ange-ftp and normal paths
-
- You actually don't need the directory file LCD-datafile if your computer
- is on the Internet, since the latest version is retrieved automatically
- the first time you type "M-x lisp-dir-apropos" in a particular Emacs
- session. If you would prefer to use a local copy of LCD-datafile, be
- sure to set the variable lisp-code-directory at the top of the lispdir.el
- source code.
-
- A searchable version of the LCD is also available at
-
- http://www.cs.indiana.edu/LCD/cover.html
-
- 90: Where can I get Emacs Lisp packages that don't come with Emacs?
-
- First, check the Lisp Code Directory to find the name of the package you
- are looking for (see question 89). Next, check local archives and the
- Emacs Lisp Archive to find a copy of the relevant files. If you still
- haven't found it, you can send e-mail to the author asking for a copy.
- If you find Emacs Lisp code that doesn't appear in the LCD, please submit
- a copy to the LCD (see question 91).
-
- You can access the Emacs Lisp Archive at:
-
- ftp://archive.cis.ohio-state.edu/pub/emacs-lisp/
-
- Retrieve and read the file README first.
-
- NOTE: * The archive maintainers do not have time to answer individual
- requests for packages or the list of packages in the archive. If
- you cannot use FTP or UUCP to access the archive yourself, try to
- find a friend who can, but please don't ask the maintainers.
-
- * Any files with names ending in ".Z", ".z", or ".gz" are
- compressed, so you should use "binary" mode in FTP to retrieve
- them. You should also use binary mode whenever you retrieve any
- files with names ending in ".elc".
-
- 91: How do I submit code to the Emacs Lisp Archive?
-
- Guidelines and procedures for submission to the archive can be found in
- the file GUIDELINES in the archive directory (see question 90). It
- covers documentation, copyrights, packaging, submission, and the Lisp
- Code Directory Record. Anonymous FTP uploads are not permitted.
- Instead, all submissions are mailed to elisp-archive@cis.ohio-state.edu.
- The lispdir.el package has a function named submit-lcd-entry which will
- help you with this.
-
- 92: Where can I get other up-to-date GNU stuff?
-
- The most up-to-date official GNU software is normally kept on
- ftp.gnu.org and is available at
-
- ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu
-
- Read the files etc/DISTRIB and etc/FTP for more information.
-
- A list of sites mirroring ftp.gnu.org can be found at
-
- http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html
-
- 93: What is the difference between Emacs and XEmacs (formerly "Lucid
- Emacs")?
-
- First of all, they're both GNU Emacs. XEmacs is just as much a later
- version of GNU Emacs as the FSF-distributed version. This FAQ refers to
- the latest version to be distributed by the FSF as "Emacs," partly
- because the XEmacs maintainers now refer to their product using the
- "XEmacs" name, and partly because there isn't any accurate way to
- differentiate between the two without getting mired in paragraphs of
- legalese and history.
-
- XEmacs, which began life as Lucid Emacs, is based on an early version of
- Emacs 19 and Epoch, an X-aware version of Emacs 18.
-
- Emacs (i.e., the version distributed by the FSF) has a larger installed
- base, while XEmacs can do some clever tricks with X Windows, such as
- putting arbitrary graphics in a buffer. Emacs and XEmacs each come with
- Lisp packages that are lacking in the other; RMS says that the FSF would
- include more packages that come with XEmacs, but that the XEmacs
- maintainers don't always keep track of the authors of contributed code,
- which makes it impossible for the FSF to have certain legal papers
- signed. (Without these legal papers, the FSF will not distribute Lisp
- packages with Emacs.)
-
- Many XEmacs features have found their way into recent versions of Emacs,
- and more features can be expected in the future, but there are still many
- differences between the two.
-
- The latest version of XEmacs as of this writing is 20.4; you can get it
- at
-
- ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/tux/xemacs/xemacs-20.4/xemacs-20.4.tar.gz
-
- More information about XEmacs, including a list of frequently asked
- questions (FAQ), is available at
-
- http://www.xemacs.org/
-
- 94: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running MS-DOS?
-
- A pre-built binary distribution of Emacs is available from the Simtel
- archives. This version apparently works under MS-DOS and Windows (3.x,
- 95, and NT) and supports long file names. More information is availble
- from:
-
- ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2gnu/emacs.README
-
- And the binary itself is available in the files em1934*.zip in the
- directory
-
- ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2gnu/
-
- If you prefer to compile Emacs for yourself, you will need a 386 (or
- better) processor, and are running MS-DOS 3.0 or later. According to Eli
- Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> and Darrel Hankerson
- <hankedr@dms.auburn.edu>, you will need the following:
-
- Compiler: djgpp version 1.12 maint 1 or later. Djgpp 2.0 or later is
- recommended, since 1.x is being phased out. Djgpp 2 supports
- long filenames under Windows 95.
-
- You can get the latest release of djgpp by retrieving
- all of the files in
-
- ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp
-
- Gunzip and tar:
-
- The easiest way is to use "djtar" which comes with djgpp v2.x,
- because it can open gzip'ed tarfiles (i.e., those ending with
- ".tar.gz") in one step. Djtar comes in "djdev201.zip", from
- the URL mentioned above.
-
- Utilities: make, mv, sed, rm.
-
- All of these utilities are available at
-
- ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2gnu
-
- 16-bit utilities can be found in GNUish:
-
- ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/gnuish
-
- The files INSTALL and PROBLEMS in the top-level directory of the Emacs
- source contains some additional information regarding Emacs under MS-DOS.
-
- For a list of other MS-DOS implementations of Emacs (and Emacs
- look-alikes), consult the list of "Emacs implementations and literature,"
- available at
-
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.emacs/
-
- Note that while many of these programs look similar to Emacs, they often
- lack certain features, such as the Emacs Lisp extension language.
-
- 95: Where can I get Emacs for Microsoft Windows, Windows '95, or Windows
- NT?
-
- For information on Emacs for Windows 95 and NT, read the FAQ produced by
- Geoff Voelker <voelker@cs.washington.edu>, available at
-
- http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/voelker/ntemacs.html
-
- For Windows 3.1, see question 94.
-
- 96: Where can I get Emacs for my PC running OS/2?
-
- Emacs 19.33 is ported for emx on OS/2 2.0 or 2.1, and is available at:
-
- ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/apps/editors/emacs/v19.33/
-
- 97: Where can I get Emacs for my Atari ST?
-
- Roland SchÎŁuble reports that Emacs 18.58 running on plain TOS and MiNT
- is available at
-
- ftp://atari.archive.umich.edu/Editors/Emacs-18-58/1858b-d3.zoo
-
- 98: Where can I get Emacs for my Amiga?
-
- The files you need are available at
-
- ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/gnu/
-
- David Gilbert <dgilbert@gamiga.guelphnet.dweomer.org> has released a beta
- version of Emacs 19.25 for the Amiga. You can get the binary at
-
- ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/gnu/a2.0bEmacs-bin.lha
-
- 99: Where can I get Emacs for NeXTSTEP?
-
- Emacs.app is a NeXTSTEP version of Emacs 19.34 which supports colors,
- menus, and multiple frames. You can get it from
-
- ftp://next-ftp.peak.org/pub/next/apps/emacs/Emacs_for_NeXTstep.4.20a1.NIHS.b.tar.gz
-
- 100: Where can I get Emacs for my Apple computer?
-
- An unofficial port of GNU Emacs 18.59 to the Macintosh is available at a
- number of ftp sites, the home being
-
- ftp://ftp.cs.cornell.edu/pub/parmet/Emacs-1.17.sit.bin
-
- To the best of our knowledge, Emacs 19 has not been ported to the
- Macintosh.
-
- Apple's forthcoming "OS X" is based largely on NeXTSTEP and OpenStep.
- See question 99 for more details about that version.
-
- 101: Where do I get Emacs that runs on VMS under DECwindows?
-
- Up-to-date information about GNU software (including Emacs) for VMS is
- available at
-
- http://vms.gnu.org/
-
- 102: Where can I get modes for Lex, Yacc/Bison, Bourne shell, Csh, C++,
- Objective-C, Pascal, Java, and Awk?
-
- Most of these modes are now available in standard Emacs distribution. To
- get additional modes, look in the Lisp Code Directory (see question 89).
- For C++, if you use lisp-dir-apropos, you must specify the pattern like
- this:
-
- M-x lisp-dir-apropos RET c\+\+ RET
-
- Note that Barry Warsaw's cc-mode now works for C, C++, Objective-C, and
- Java code. You can get the latest version from the Emacs Lisp Archive;
- see question 90 for details. A FAQ for cc-mode is available at
-
- http://www.python.org/emacs/cc-mode/
-
- 103: What is the IP address of XXX.YYY.ZZZ?
-
- If you are on a Unix machine, try using the "nslookup" command, included
- in the Berkeley BIND package. For example, to find the IP address of
- "ftp.gnu.org", you would type
-
- nslookup ftp.gnu.org
-
- Your computer should then provide the IP address of that computer.
-
- If your site's nameserver is deficient, you can use IP addresses to FTP
- files. You can get this information by
-
- * E-mail:
-
- To: dns@[134.214.84.25] (to grasp.insa-lyon.fr)
- Body: ip XXX.YYY.ZZZ (or "help" for more information
- and options - no quotes)
- or:
-
- To: resolve@[147.31.254.130] (to laverne.cs.widener.edu)
- Body: site XXX.YYY.ZZZ
-
-
- Major Emacs Lisp Packages, Emacs Extensions, and Related Programs
-
- 104: VM (View Mail) -- another mail reader within Emacs, with MIME support
-
- Author: Kyle Jones <kyle@uunet.uu.net>
- Latest version: 6.67
- Anonymous FTP:
- ftp://ftp.wonderworks.com/pub/vm/vm.tar.gz
- Newsgroups and mailing lists:
- Informational newsgroup/mailing list:
- gnu.emacs.vm.info (newsgroup)
- info-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
- info-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions)
- Bug reports newsgroup/mailing list:
- gnu.emacs.vm.bug (newsgroup)
- bug-vm-request@uunet.uu.net (for subscriptions)
- bug-vm@uunet.uu.net (for submissions)
- NOTE: VM 6 is not guaranteed to work under Emacs 20 (although many people
- seem to use it without too much trouble). Users of Emacs 20 might prefer
- to use VM 5.97, available from the same FTP site.
-
- 105: Supercite -- mail and news citation package within Emacs
-
- Author: Barry Warsaw <bwarsaw@cen.com>
- Latest version: 3.1 (comes with Emacs 20)
-
- World Wide Web:
- http://www.python.org/emacs/supercite.tar.gz
- Mailing list:
- supercite-request@python.org (for subscriptions)
- supercite@python.org (for submissions)
- NOTE: Superyank is an old version of Supercite.
-
- 106: Calc -- poor man's Mathematica within Emacs
-
- Author: Dave Gillespie <daveg@csvax.cs.caltech.edu>
- Latest version: 2.02f
- Anonymous FTP:
- ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/calc/calc-2.02f.tar.gz
- NOTE: Unlike Wolfram Research, Dave has never threatened to sue
- anyone for having a program with a similar command language to
- Calc. :-)
-
- 107: VIPER -- vi emulation for Emacs
-
- Since Emacs 19.29, the preferred vi emulation in Emacs is VIPER (M-x
- viper-mode RET), which comes with Emacs. It extends and supersedes VIP
- (including VIP 4.3) and provides vi emulation at several levels, from one
- that closely follows vi to one that departs from vi in several
- significant ways.
-
- For Emacs 19.28 and earlier, the following version of VIP is generally
- better than the one distributed with Emacs:
-
- Author: Aamod Sane <sane@cs.uiuc.edu>
- Latest version: 4.3
- Anonymous FTP:
- ftp://archive.cis.ohio-state.edu/pub/emacs-lisp/modes/vip-mode.tar.Z
-
- 108: AUC TeX -- enhanced LaTeX mode with debugging facilities
-
- Authors: Kresten Krab Thorup <krab@iesd.auc.dk>
- and Per Abrahamsen <abraham@iesd.auc.dk>
- Latest version: 9.8l
- Anonymous FTP:
- ftp://sunsite.auc.dk/packages/auctex/auctex.tar.gz
- Mailing list:
- auc-tex-request@iesd.auc.dk (for subscriptions)
- auc-tex@iesd.auc.dk (for submissions)
- auc-tex_mgr@iesd.auc.dk (auc-tex development team)
- World Wide Web:
- http://sunsite.auc.dk/auctex/
-
- 109: BBDB -- personal Info Rolodex integrated with mail/news readers
-
- Maintainer: Matt Simmons <simmonmt@acm.org>
- Latest released version: 2.00
- Available from:
- http://www.netcom.com/~simmonmt/bbdb/index.html
- Mailing lists:
- info-bbdb-request@xemacs.org (for subscriptions)
- info-bbdb@xemacs.org (for submissions)
- bbdb-announce-request@xemacs.org (to be informed of new releases)
-
- 110: Ispell -- spell checker in C with interface for Emacs
-
- Author: Geoff Kuenning <geoff@itcorp.com>
- Latest released version: 3.1.20
- Anonymous FTP:
- Master Sites:
- ftp://ftp.cs.ucla.edu/pub/ispell/ispell-3.1.20.tar.gz
- Known Mirror Sites:
- ftp://ftp.th-darmstadt.de/pub/dicts/ispell/
- ftp://ftp.nl.net/pub/textproc/ispell/
- World Wide Web:
- http://fmg-www.cs.ucla.edu/geoff/ispell.html
-
- NOTE: * Do not ask Geoff to send you the latest version of Ispell.
- He does not have free e-mail.
-
- * This Ispell program is distinct from GNU Ispell 4.0. GNU
- Ispell 4.0 is no longer a supported product.
-
- 111: W3-mode -- A World Wide Web browser inside of Emacs
-
- Author: Bill Perry <wmperry@spry.com>
- Latest version: 4.0pre.39
- Anonymous FTP:
- ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/elisp/w3/w3.tar.gz
- Mailing lists:
- w3-announce-request@indiana.edu (to get announcements of new versions)
- w3-beta-request@indiana.edu (for beta-testers of new versions)
- w3-dev@indiana.edu (for developers of W3)
-
- 112: EDB -- Database program for Emacs; replaces forms editing modes
-
- Author: Michael Ernst <mernst@theory.lcs.mit.edu>
- Latest version: 1.21
- Anonymous FTP:
- ftp://theory.lcs.mit.edu/pub/emacs/edb
-
- 113: Mailcrypt -- PGP interface within Emacs mail and news
-
- Authors: Patrick J. LoPresti <patl@lcs.mit.edu> and
- Jin S. Choi <jin@atype.com>
- Maintainer: Len Budney <lbudney@pobox.com>
- Latest version: 3.5.1
- Anonymous FTP:
- http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt/mailcrypt-3.5.1.tar.gz
- World Wide Web:
- http://www.nb.net/~lbudney/linux/software/mailcrypt.html
-
- 114: JDE -- Development environment for Java programming
-
- Author: Paul Kinnucan <paulk@mathworks.com>
- Mailing list: jde-subscribe@sunsite.auc.dk
- Latest version: 2.1.1
- World Wide Web: http://sunsite.auc.dk/jde/
-
- 115: Patch -- program to apply "diffs" for updating files
-
- Author: Larry Wall <lwall@wall.org> (with GNU modifications)
- Latest version: 2.5
- Anonymous FTP: See question 92
-
-