Re: How to cite the Emacs and Calc manuals?

[Stefan Monnier]

> - what is the author?

Usually the question is "who", but admittedly, the "what" is also an
interesting question in this case.

>   It says on the first page: "This manual, also
>   written (mostly) by Dave Gillespie [...]" - so is it "Dave Gillespie"
>   or "Dave Gillespie et al." or what?

I think for Calc, "Dave Gillespie et al." would be fine, yes.

For the Emacs manual, OTOH, the authorship is a lot more diluted.
I guess you could opt for "Richard Stallman et al." and there wouldn't
be too many objections.

> - what is the year of publication?  It says on the first page:
> "Copyright (C) 1990-1991, 2001-2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc." -
> so is it 2013?

Pick the version Emacs whose manual you want to cite, then use the
release date of that version as the date of publication.

> - what is the publisher?  I guess FSF, but they don't have it in their
>   dead trees web page shop.

Yes, the publisher is the FSF, regardless if they only publish it
electronically.

> - not to mention the place of publishing (usually it's the name of a
>   city).

You can probably leave this blank.  If you really insist on choosing
a place, Boston would make some kind of sense.


        Stefan