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Underappreciated Builtin: Grand Unified Debugger
25 days ago
- The Grand Unified Debugger (GUD) in Emacs is an underappreciated built-in feature that supports multiple debuggers like GDB, LLDB, Perl, Java, Python, and others.
- A demo using GDB with a Fibonacci program shows how to set breakpoints via fringe clicks, use toolbar buttons (Run, Next Line, Step Line, Up/Down Stack), and manage breakpoints in a dedicated window.
- GUD provides features like an I/O window for output, variable inspection by hovering, a locals window, and variable watching for automatic updates when values change.
Simple, beautiful Emacs modeline: modusregel
23 days ago
- Modusregel is a clean, elegant mode line package for Emacs, compatible with both GUI and terminal interfaces.
- It features smart major mode name prettification, support for Tree-Sitter variants, and built-in indicators for Eglot and Flymake.
- Designed for performance with lightweight, dependency-free Emacs Lisp code.
- Includes minimalist Unicode icons for buffer states like modified, read-only, remote, and LSP active.
- Installation via package managers like Elpaca, with configurable global or window-local mode line settings.
- Licensed under GNU GPL v3+ for code and GNU FDL v1.3+ for documentation.
- Adheres to AI policy requiring human oversight in contributions and prohibits autonomous AI agents.
- Follows a code of conduct promoting inclusivity, respect, and collaboration inspired by GNU ideals.
- Project encourages community contributions via email contact and public backlog/kanban boards.
- Compatible with keycast package for displaying key bindings in the mode line, with example configurations provided.
Two new experimental MELPA channels
21 days ago
- MELPA introduced two new experimental channels: MELPA Snapshots and MELPA Releases, which will eventually replace the traditional MELPA unstable and stable channels.
- The new snapshots channel uses version strings in the format RELEASE.0.YYYYMMDD.COUNT to avoid the issue where snapshot versions incorrectly appear greater than release versions.
- MELPA now consults both git/mercurial tags and library headers to determine the latest release, increasing package coverage in the releases channel to 6207 packages.
- Package maintainers are advised to align version tags with library header bumps to ensure consistent release identification across different ELPAs.
- Users switching to the new snapshots channel must remove and reinstall packages due to version string changes, using specific configuration updates.
- MyELPA is introduced as a simplified project for publishing personal ELPAs, reducing the need to add all packages to MELPA and easing maintainer workload.
- Financial support for MELPA and related projects is requested from users who benefit from the work.
New contributors to GNU Emacs over time
20 days ago
- The author investigated first-time contributors to Emacs by analyzing Git commit history, tracking unique author identities over time.
- A cumulative plot revealed a noticeable increase in new contributors around 2010, suggesting a shift in contribution patterns or project management.
- Possible reasons for the change include migration from CVS to Bazaar and then Git, or adjustments in how patches are attributed to authors.
Emacs and AI, the combination you've been missing
19 days ago
- The author describes frustration with switching between Emacs and AI tools like Claude for coding assistance.
- An epiphany occurs about integrating AI directly into Emacs using Claude to write custom plugins, despite the author's limited knowledge of Elisp.
- Claude successfully generates a functional Emacs plugin, demonstrating that AI can help customize Emacs to create an ideal development environment.
In Emacs, Everything Looks Like a Service
16 days ago
- Emacs is not an operating system but orchestrates applications and utilities above the OS kernel, enabling users to 'live only in Emacs' by fulfilling many computing needs through client modes.
- The client-server model partitions tasks between a service (provider) and a client (requester), with Emacs providing built-in and third-party libraries for implementing clients, handling UI, client-edge communication, and local databases.
- Emacs Lisp (Elisp) is a dynamic language allowing high improvisation, enabling complex orchestration of behaviors, from Elisp functions to shell commands, with examples like building a weather client using wttr.in via HTTP requests and JSON processing.
- Emacs abstracts APIs at a high level, making it easy to build clients with minimal code, as shown by the 67-line wttr.el example, or by integrating command-line utilities like a Python script as a 'service' for simpler implementations.
Human Emacs
12 days ago
- Emacs project currently rejects LLM-based contributions as a precaution while awaiting GNU's final policy.
- Concerns that GNU's upcoming policy may not uphold high ethical standards and could allow LLM-generated code.
- Intent to develop and use an LLM-free version of Emacs regardless of GNU's decision, potentially involving a fork.
- Discussion and support for this initiative occur via mailing list and Libera Chat's #human-emacs channel.
Things that made me come back to Emacs
7 days ago
- The author returned to Emacs after trying Neovim, primarily due to better workflows and specific Emacs features.
- The switch to Neovim was motivated by AI agentic workflows requiring terminal-based environments, leading to terminal+tmux setup.
- Emacs TUI had shortcut issues, prompting the Neovim trial, but Emacs features like Org-Mode, Dired, Embark, and Magit were missed.
- Current setup is TUI Emacs in terminal+tmux, with GUI Emacs improved by ghostel for embedded terminal and smoother AI agents.
Malleable Computing, Emacs, and You
3 days ago
- The author automated the manual process of copying GitHub issues into Org Agenda using Emacs, leveraging existing tools like the `gh` CLI, Elisp packages (Transient, vtable, ox-gfm), and Pandoc.
- The implementation, called `fj`, consists of approximately 400 lines of Elisp code and was built in about a day, demonstrating the rapid prototyping capabilities of malleable computing.
- Malleable software allows users to adapt tools by combining existing libraries and programs, contrasting with supply-provided software where producers control features and development scope.
- Building for oneself (N=1) with malleable techniques reduces the overhead of error handling, documentation, and testing, making it feasible to create custom tools quickly.
- The resulting tool enables the user to browse GitHub issues, copy them to Org files, create new issues using Org syntax, and open issues in a web browser, all from within Emacs.
Escape IntelliJ: Scala and Kotlin LSPs on Emacs Eglot
4 days ago
- Emacs 29 made Eglot the built-in LSP client; it's lightweight but minimal, requiring Elisp for workarounds.
- Author shares production-ready Eglot config for Scala, Kotlin, and Java, with hooks and keybindings.
- Customizations include JVM tuning for Metals, inlay hints, YAML schema mapping, and fixing Kotlin LSP bugs (empty newText, jar URI translation).
- Intercepts JSON-RPC via advice-add to patch server behavior, e.g., removing empty textEdit, disabling Metals semantic refresh.
- Uses Nix flakes and direnv for reproducible development environments per project.
- Concludes that Eglot's minimalism is empowerable via Emacs Lisp hacking.
Emacs Is a Lispboard
2 days ago
- Emacs is conceptually a 'Lispboard'—a working environment with an embedded Lisp interpreter, not just a text editor, operating system, or IDE.
- The ideal working environment merges multiple tools (terminal, email, code editor) into a single, integrated window with shared shortcuts, configurations, and interactivity.
- Emacs allows scripting, prototyping, and building workflows directly in Elisp without relying on external binaries, creating a self-contained habitat.
- With cross-platform bytecode compilation, Emacs provides a virtual machine that runs identically on different operating systems.
- Emacs is not a text editor, OS, or IDE, but a Lisp interpreter and framework that reimplements many programs, integrated via a shared event bus.
- The web browser is Emacs's true rival, offering a cross-platform virtual machine but with siloed tabs and limited user ownership, unlike Emacs's integrated and customizable environment.
- Using Emacs is not nostalgic; it provides a unique, replaceable way to work and live within software, with lifelong customization potential.
My Emacs Configuration (Dired)
a day ago
- Dired is an Emacs file browser that treats files as buffer elements, enabling navigation and operations with Emacs habits.
- Invoking Dired: via C-x p d (project directories), C-x C-j (current directory), C-x C-d (default), or setting Emacs as default file manager.
- File operations: mark files with various methods (m, * s, * ., % m, t, U), copy/move/remove, and flag for deletion with d, % &, % d.
- WDired mode makes Dired buffer writable, allowing filename editing via search/replace, macros, and permission changes.
- Copy/move between two Dired windows is enabled by setting `dired-dwim-target` t.
- Search: C-s for filenames (with `dired-isearch-filenames` t), plus find-name-dired and find-grep-dired for content searches.
- External programs: open files with external viewers via `dired-open-extensions`, and run shell commands with ! (sync) or & (async) using wildcards ?, *, `?`.
- Dired and photos: thumbnails via C-t t and C-t o, image manipulation with custom commands and GraphicsMagick.
- Configuration uses packages: delight, dired-rsync, dired-subtree, nerd-icons-dired, dired-x, etc., with custom keybindings and hooks.
- Extensive variable settings for compression, destination dirs, display options, sorting, and faces customization for Solarized Light theme.

emacs

Underappreciated Builtin: Grand Unified Debugger

Simple, beautiful Emacs modeline: modusregel

Two new experimental MELPA channels

New contributors to GNU Emacs over time

Emacs and AI, the combination you've been missing

In Emacs, Everything Looks Like a Service

Human Emacs

Things that made me come back to Emacs

Malleable Computing, Emacs, and You

Escape IntelliJ: Scala and Kotlin LSPs on Emacs Eglot

Emacs Is a Lispboard

My Emacs Configuration (Dired)