Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!think!barmar
From: barmar@think.COM (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: mega-flame on GNU & Unipress
Message-ID: <20394@think.UUCP>
Date: 1 May 88 18:18:14 GMT
References: <8804300706.AA08462@EDDIE.MIT.EDU>
Sender: usenet@think.UUCP
Reply-To: barmar@fafnir.think.com.UUCP (Barry Margolin)
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 31

In article <8804300706.AA08462@EDDIE.MIT.EDU> DAVIS@blue.sdr.slb.COM writes:
>So: why no modeline dragging in emacstool ? why no decent menus ? why
>no built in help-on-mouse-thing ? why no interface to font changes ?
>why is apropos help so slow under GNU ? why is interactive mouse and
>key binding so complicated for naive users ? why no continuous scroll
>? why no up-click hooks for mouse events ? why no interface to dbm ? 
>why no inversion of the region ? 

Almost all of the things you complained about are related to support
for window systems and high-speed workstations.  Emacs (both the GNU
version and most of its predecessors and descendents) was not written
specifically for such environments.  It is designed to be usable on
everything from printing terminals (yes, this actually works in some
Emacs implementations) to Sun workstations, and the user interface is
the same in all environments.

Yes, there are a few mouse operations in GNU Emacs.  But I suspect
that most of the GNU Emacs developers are not heavily into mousing, so
they didn't bother adding everything.  Remember, GNU is a volunteer
effort; developers implement what they think is important.

The best thing you can do to advance the state of the art in using the
mouse with GNU Emacs is to submit the changes you are making to be
incorporated into the standard version.  That is how GNU Emacs grows.


Barry Margolin
Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com
uunet!think!barmar