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From: aglew@ccvaxa.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Free Software Foundation (was: Re:
Message-ID: <28200046@ccvaxa>
Date: Sat, 19-Sep-87 18:21:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: ccvaxa.28200046
Posted: Sat Sep 19 18:21:00 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Sep-87 21:09:35 EDT
References: <738@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM>
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Nf-ID: #R:hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM:738:ccvaxa:28200046:000:1986
Nf-From: ccvaxa.UUCP!aglew    Sep 19 17:21:00 1987


> [Kent, the man from Xanth, writes, paraphrased]:
..> If 98% of the programs run are short-lived,
..> then this is an argument for short simple programs with few features:
..> why waste time loading the unused parts of programs with many options?

On the other hand, I regularly use a program with many bells and whistles
(GNU EMACS), but load it up only once and leave it running all day,
sometimes for days or weeks. The cost of the exec is paid only once,
while the cost of loading libraries I don't need is paid only when I
use them.

If I was using a less fully featured editor, I would be spending much
more time going in and out, exec'ing and exit'ing.

However, I have noticed that GNU makes it unnecessary for me to use
the fancy features of short, transitory, utilities.
	For example, I hardly ever use more, because I can scroll my shell
buffer much more conveniently in EMACS.
	I am going back to using the Bourne shell as my command line
interface. True, I'm doing this for testing by use, but I'm willing to do
it, while other developers don't want to give up the csh, because EMACS
gives me the things you like about the csh - filename completion, history -
when I use the Bourne shell in a shell buffer.
	Line oriented interfaces are much more tolerable under EMACS.
Adb under EMACS is almost pleasant!

I think that I need a fully featured environment to live in;
but the fully featured environment makes simple tools much more tolerable.

Andy "Krazy" Glew. Gould CSD-Urbana.    USEnet:  ihnp4!uiucdcs!ccvaxa!aglew
1101 E. University, Urbana, IL 61801    ARPAnet: aglew@gswd-vms.arpa

I always felt that disclaimers were silly and affected, but there are people
who let themselves be affected by silly things, so: my opinions are my own,
and not the opinions of my employer, or any other organisation with which I am
affiliated. I indicate my employer only so that other people may account for
any possible bias I may have towards my employer's products or systems.