4 ms·

I dream of combining wlroots and GNU Guile to make a graphic-first and multi-threaded by default Emacsen that does not aim to be source compatible with Emacs Li

I dream of combining wlroots and GNU Guile to make a graphic-first and multi-threaded by default Emacsen that does not aim to be source compatible with Emacs Lisp.

djaouen 2y ago
Many have tried, but few have succeeded at creating an Emacs-replacement. Good luck!
- pjmlp 2y ago
  I would say, that with Enrich Gamma at the steering wheel, and Microsoft's money, VSCode is succeeding pretty well.
  - guenthert 2y ago
    I'd think that VSCode eats into the 'market share' of Eclipse and the like, but I can't see it as replacement for Emacs at all.
    - pjmlp 2y ago
      Better look at the shape of Emacs market share evolution since VSCode exists. Turns out JavaScript is more appealing than Elisp, plus the graphical capabilities of having a browser engine.
  - School-Cotton 2y ago
    VS Code is nothing like emacs at all except in the most basic sense that they’re both text editors popular with programmers.
    - pjmlp 2y ago
      I am old enough to have used XEmacs when the paint was still drying.
ducktective 2y ago
Why wlroots? Isn't it better to target an abstraction api over the various GPU libraries (vulkan, metal etc)? And I would have asked about Guile too but that is another matter. I think LEM's approach is better here in utilizing SDL and common lisp. If they write an ELisp interpreter and somehow translate Emacs editor api so plugins would work in LEM too, that would be ideal.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
  Guile is the GNU extension language. Seems like the best candidate for an emacs replacement.
  - ducktective 2y ago
    Well, an Emacsen that hopes achieving the same degree of popularity as Emacs should be usable in Windows too. Last I checked, Guile had problems in Windows...
    - rbanffy 2y ago
      I wouldn’t consider running directly on Windows a hard requirement. You can run it under WSL[1|2] for instance, or bundle a very minimal WSL distribution that only runs your software.
      - medstrom 2y ago
        It would also simplify the codebase, to scrap the native Windows support and outsource that responsibility to WSL.
  - School-Cotton 2y ago
    There was already a project to port emacs to run on guile. Guile supports both emacs lisp and scheme for this reason. The project seems to have run out of steam but it was mostly working at one point AFAIK.
- vindarel 2y ago
User23 2y ago
On similar lines I've wondered about reimplementing the C parts of Emacs in Common Lisp. At that point Elisp would be a hosted language, letting you benefit from all the existing packages.
- ReleaseCandidat 2y ago
  Lem is an Emacs using CL (also instead of Emacs Lisp): https://lem-project.github.io/ https://lem-project.github.io/
  - alt0_ 2y ago
    It is also graphical, and multi-threaded!
  - User23 2y ago
    I haven’t looked at lem in a while. I need to though. It and Nyxt are both really cool. Giving up the Elisp ecosystem will be hard though.
- vindarel 2y ago
  That was the goal of CEDAR: https://gitlab.com/sasanidas/cedar https://gitlab.com/sasanidas/cedar (staled, too big of a project). But yeah, Lem!
BeetleB 2y ago
> that does not aim to be source compatible with Emacs Lisp. But then who would use it?
- Zambyte 2y ago
  Me

I dream of combining wlroots and GNU Guile to make a graphic-first and multi-threaded by default Emacsen that does not aim to be source compatible with Emacs Lisp.

djaouen 2y ago

Many have tried, but few have succeeded at creating an Emacs-replacement. Good luck!

pjmlp 2y ago
I would say, that with Enrich Gamma at the steering wheel, and Microsoft's money, VSCode is succeeding pretty well.
- guenthert 2y ago
  I'd think that VSCode eats into the 'market share' of Eclipse and the like, but I can't see it as replacement for Emacs at all.
  - pjmlp 2y ago
    Better look at the shape of Emacs market share evolution since VSCode exists. Turns out JavaScript is more appealing than Elisp, plus the graphical capabilities of having a browser engine.
- School-Cotton 2y ago
  VS Code is nothing like emacs at all except in the most basic sense that they’re both text editors popular with programmers.
  - pjmlp 2y ago
    I am old enough to have used XEmacs when the paint was still drying.

ducktective 2y ago

Why wlroots? Isn't it better to target an abstraction api over the various GPU libraries (vulkan, metal etc)? And I would have asked about Guile too but that is another matter. I think LEM's approach is better here in utilizing SDL and common lisp. If they write an ELisp interpreter and somehow translate Emacs editor api so plugins would work in LEM too, that would be ideal.

0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
Guile is the GNU extension language. Seems like the best candidate for an emacs replacement.
- ducktective 2y ago
  Well, an Emacsen that hopes achieving the same degree of popularity as Emacs should be usable in Windows too. Last I checked, Guile had problems in Windows...
  - rbanffy 2y ago
    I wouldn’t consider running directly on Windows a hard requirement. You can run it under WSL[1|2] for instance, or bundle a very minimal WSL distribution that only runs your software.
    - medstrom 2y ago
      It would also simplify the codebase, to scrap the native Windows support and outsource that responsibility to WSL.
- School-Cotton 2y ago
  There was already a project to port emacs to run on guile. Guile supports both emacs lisp and scheme for this reason. The project seems to have run out of steam but it was mostly working at one point AFAIK.
vindarel 2y ago

User23 2y ago

On similar lines I've wondered about reimplementing the C parts of Emacs in Common Lisp. At that point Elisp would be a hosted language, letting you benefit from all the existing packages.

ReleaseCandidat 2y ago
Lem is an Emacs using CL (also instead of Emacs Lisp): https://lem-project.github.io/ https://lem-project.github.io/
- alt0_ 2y ago
  It is also graphical, and multi-threaded!
- User23 2y ago
  I haven’t looked at lem in a while. I need to though. It and Nyxt are both really cool. Giving up the Elisp ecosystem will be hard though.
vindarel 2y ago
That was the goal of CEDAR: https://gitlab.com/sasanidas/cedar https://gitlab.com/sasanidas/cedar (staled, too big of a project). But yeah, Lem!

BeetleB 2y ago

> that does not aim to be source compatible with Emacs Lisp. But then who would use it?

Zambyte 2y ago
Me