RE: debugging Emacs LISP functions

[Drew Adams]

> The blurring between "user" and "developer", in this case, has nothing
> to do with free software.

Not sure just what you meant by "in this case".  But the distinction
between user and developer _does_, in general, have something to do
with _free software_.  It has at least these two, essentially
independent, things to do with free software:

1. Users can be developers of the Emacs product that is distributed
   ("core" Emacs).  A "developer" role here is pretty much open to
   any user (and even non-users).

2. Free software means freely available source code.  And with the
   GPL, anyone is permitted to use, copy, and modify copies of the
   source code, within the rights of the license.

Non-free software typically does not allow for either of these.
It can sometimes allow for #1 (development by users) to some extent.
But ource code (at least some of it) is typically not made available
to everyone who uses non-free software.

There is another sense in which _Emacs_ is a bit special wrt the
user/developer distinction: its _ease_ of
customization/modification/development by users.  Emacs has
always had user modification and ease of that as one of its
primary features.  It is a poster child for this.