Re: Is Emacs very alive, active and improving?

[Emanuel Berg]

Luca Ferrari <fluca1978@infinito.it> writes:

>> Can I reasonably trust Emacs to be active and
>> improving by 2018?
>
> I don't even trust myself having a job in 2018!

I agree, it doesn't make sense to plan that far into the
future. If you are productive and active *today*, be
happy, chances are much better you'll be the same
tomorrow, than if you sit idle, contemplating what will
happen in the future. (Which, by the way, is a very
difficult task.)

The past is the past; there is no changing it. As for
the future, it will come sooner or later, rest
assured. Only the present is up for grabs.

Remember, "Advance too fast, you catch up with
death. But advance too slow, death catches up with
*you*."

> Quite frankly, I'm fine in being even the only one
> using a tool

Yes, 100% the correct attitude. Don't doubt yourself!

> By the way, I don't see the problem here: have you
> ever changed a car, a phone, a television or something
> else? Changes happen, and in the unlucky case Emacs
> will not be supported (to the extent you care), you
> will simply change tool.

Well, in general, true, but that won't happen.

> Don't pretend to use a single tool for any job, use
> the right one.  And today Emacs is pretty much good
> for a lot of job, but it does not mean it will be the
> only one or the better one forever.

Again, in general, I agree, but I just can't see some
other tool for general computing will surpass Emacs. I
use Emacs and zsh/tmux, with M/Alt-j and -l to switch
between them. Unless I would switch direction in
computing, and do games, GIS, etc. (which I hope won't
happen), with as much assurance that I can muster
without being a fanatic, I really can't-can't see any
tool surpassing Emacs/zsh for my general purposes.

I mean, is there work on such a tool being carried out,
which I am unaware of?

On the other hand, I am very much aware of the work
being carried out on Emacs. And the zsh has an active
community as well, though one would think the CLI has
reached a very high level of maturity by now. Even more
so than Emacs, not because Emacs isn't as "good", but
because there is so much more to an editor than to a
shell.

-- 
Emanuel Berg, programmer-for-rent. CV, projects, etc at uXu
underground experts united:  http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573