
Emacs 24.4 released - auvi
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2014-10/msg00713.html
======
webkike
I've been going off like a broken record in the comment pages for these posts,
since I'm such an Emacs fanatic. But I'll say it again, this release is great!
Rectangular mark mode, better web browser -- Emacs hasn't stopped getting
better

~~~
fafner
Rectangular mark mode is really awesome. It makes working with rectangles a
lot easier. It is now so well integrated into my workflow that I'm really
annoyed when I have to use an older Emacs version.

~~~
p4bl0
I don't understand what is there that I can't do with rectangles in Emacs 24.3
(or even way before).

I can already kill (C-x r k), yank (C-x r y), replace (C-x r t) text in
rectangles, insert text after the rectangle (C-x r z) or at the beginning of
all the rectangle lines (C-x r a) or their ends (C-x r e).

What else is there?

~~~
namarkiv
The rectangle highlighting issue has been fixed[0].

[http://emacsredux.com/blog/2014/01/01/a-peek-at-
emacs-24-dot...](http://emacsredux.com/blog/2014/01/01/a-peek-at-
emacs-24-dot-4-rectangular-selection/)

~~~
p4bl0
Thanks. So that's what other already said, there is nothing more. This was a
really minor issue, I don't see why it would make anyone that much happy, but
it's sure nice to have it fixed.

~~~
klibertp
It also gives you a live preview when you use C-x r t to insert text, like
iedit-rectangle-mode always did (iedit is still more robust, but for most
simple cases I use C-x spc now instead of it).

~~~
p4bl0
Ah, _that_ 's cool! Thanks.

------
jpfr
Besides emacs 24.4 being an awesome release by itself, it also means esr can
finally transition the development to git.

That will render the project a lot more accessible for new developers and ad-
hoc bugfixing.

~~~
dfc
For anyone that is interested in testing out the new git repo:
git://gitorious.org/emacs-transition/review6.git

It is remarkably fast compared to the bzr repository. ESR's conversion takes
10 hours to complete.

------
jmount
Building on OSX Mavericks (assuming XCode and XQuartz already around)

1) Download from
[http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/](http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/)

    
    
       emacs-24.4.tar.gz
    
       emacs-24.4.tar.gz.sig
    

2) Confirm:

    
    
       gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys A0B0F199
    
       gpg --verify emacs-24.4.tar.gz.sig
    

3) Build (from INSTALL):

    
    
       cd emacs-24.4
    
       ./configure  --with-jpeg=no --with-gif=no --with-tiff=no
    
       make
    
       src/emacs -Q 
    
       make install
    

4) run:

    
    
       /usr/local/bin/emacs

~~~
sjm
Alternatively, until homebrew is updated you can run brew edit emacs and
change the url and sha256 to match 24.4, then run brew install emacs with
whatever options you would like (brew options emacs for a list). I haven't
tested this yet, but it should work, and I will report back after I've tried.

edit: So this did work, I used the .tar.xz with sha256
47e391170db4ca0a3c724530c7050655f6d573a711956b4cd84693c194a9d4fd. One thing to
note is that the old 24.3 stable formula has a bunch of patches applied that
are no longer required, so you need to edit those out as well (this area:
[https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/blob/master/Library/For...](https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/blob/master/Library/Formula/emacs.rb#L38-L66)).

~~~
dgempesaw
Update a few hours later: without having tried it myself, it looks like the
formula for emacs has been updated to 24.4:

[https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/commits/a0b095b/Library...](https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/commits/a0b095b/Library/Formula/emacs.rb)

~~~
hollerith
The Homebrew package for Emacs with Mac-specific changes by a professor named
YAMAMOTO Mitsuharu has also been updated:

[https://github.com/railwaycat/homebrew-
emacsmacport/commits/...](https://github.com/railwaycat/homebrew-
emacsmacport/commits/master)

For 2 or 3 years now, whenever I have compared the two, the current version of
"Mitsuharu" Emacs has always had fewer Cocoa-related bugs than the current
(release) version of "FSF Emacs" (i.e., Emacs without the professor's patches
applied). I am writing this comment because this Mitsuharu fellow seems very
reticent about promoting his own (excellent) work.

------
CDRdude
I'm a comparative youngin to most of the people here, and I've never tried
emacs. I'd like to learn my way around it someday, but I don't know how high
of a priority I should place on it. I've managed to pick up enough vim to make
my life easier, would learning my way around emacs also get me a productivity
boost? How good is evil mode?

~~~
babarock
I spent a couple of years using vim before switching to emacs around 3 years
ago. I'll write about my own experience with both editors.

Learning emacs won't automatically give you a huge productivity boost the way
learning vim does. Vim is this blazing fast editor; it's been designed from
the ground up to be good at editing text. If your goal is to increase your
productivity, I'd say invest time learning vim advanced features, like jumps,
macros, registers, and the plethora of other things I don't know about.

Emacs is not about speed. It's about control. It's a fully customizable
environment to manipulate text. You can use it to edit prose, code, scientific
formulas, but also emails, IRC/Jabber clients, clients for virtually anything
with a REST API. Here are some of the use cases that make my work easier using
emacs:

\+ Evaluating pieces of code at once. I write a lot of Python. Most REPLs out
there allow editing of one line at a time. emacs allows me to fire a python
interpreter and evaluate regions (multiline function definition, or data
structure) at once. Similar features exist for other "dynamic" languages.

\+ Better code review workflow. I receive code review requests via email
immediately inside emacs. I can play with the diff files, the source files. I
can make modifs or run the code without leaving my editor. And since the code
review system has an HTTP API, I can even post my comments and votes back.

\+ Org-mode ([http://orgmode.org/](http://orgmode.org/)). I would use emacs
for this module alone. It's a note taking system that can easily transform
into an agenda, todo lists, memo, document markup, tables (oh, the org-mode
tables!), ...

Basically, to answer your question: I think you'll get a lot of benefits from
emacs if you enjoy customizing it and integrating it to your workflow. If you
don't like spending time customizing and prefer something that will just make
you write text (well, code and configuration files) faster, stick to vim and
spend this time learning advanced commands.

~~~
viksit
What do you use to evaluate python? Does it work with ipython under some sort
of inferior mode?

And what do you use for code review workflows?

~~~
foobarqux
M-x apropos python send

------
jazzychad
I think this thread is my best shot at getting this question answered.. I've
been using Emacs 23.x for the last several years because the buffer-switcher
behavior changed in Emacs 24 and I have no idea how (or if it's even possible)
to get the previous behavior back?

In Emacs 23 and below (for as long as I've used Emacs), I would change buffers
by hitting F10-b (F10 brings up menu, b is shortcut for Buffers).

Then there is a nice little list of open buffers and the first letter of the
filename is usually the shortcut to switch to that buffer.

This made it really fast to switch back and forth between multiple files (I
want to go to index.html == F10-b-i ; now I want to switch back to about.html
== F10-b-a), it was very simple.

Emacs 24 changed that behavior and so the quick switching between buffers
based on the first letter of their filename went away.

Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? Is it possible to get the
previous behavior in 24? I'm slowly finding packages that won't compile in
Emacs 23 anymore b/c they depend on new Emacs 24 elisp functions. I only ever
use Emacs from inside a terminal (emacs -nw), so that's why I'm navigating
buffers by the F10 menu.

EDIT: Well, I may be an idiot. I just downloaded the latest 24 build and it
seems to be working as before again! Not sure when this changed, but maybe
this is now a non-issue. I feel a bit silly, but maybe this will help someone
else?

~~~
dimitar
Have you tried ido mode? Ido-switch-buffer works nicely and it can be
customized.

~~~
chetanahuja
Apparently, Helm is the latest hotness in that department.
[http://tuhdo.github.io/helm-intro.html](http://tuhdo.github.io/helm-
intro.html)

It should be just an M-x package-install away at this point

~~~
mitchty
Helm is much much better than ido mode once you get past the whole "stop
hitting tab so much you shell heathen!" thing.

------
ezequiel-garzon
In Ubuntu I'm unable to activate orgtbl-mode unless I first switch to org-
mode. This didn't happen with Emacs 23. Has anybody experienced the same? How
can I check if this has been reported? Thanks.

Edit: Seriously, people? You take the time to downvote and not to point in a
direction to contribute to make Emacs better? So much for the attacks on Stack
Overflow and its strict policies and policing... And anyway, how off topic is
this comment? Peace.

~~~
omaranto
Try adding (require 'org-table) to your .emacs. My guess is that you only have
(require 'org-install) or something like that currently. (Running the org-mode
function will load several org libraries, including org-table, if they aren't
loaded already, which is why orgtbl-mode does work after the first use of org-
mode in the setup I'm guessing you have.)

~~~
ezequiel-garzon
Thanks a lot for replying! That did it! Although I haven't tried the latest
version, I know for a fact this wasn't necessary with version 23, which is
puzzling.

~~~
omaranto
By "puzzling", I guess you mean "good (yay for modularization!)". :)

------
craigching
If you're looking for GNU emacs on Mac OS X, this is the place I use [1]. Note
that it's not there just yet, so be a bit patient. They've been doing RC
builds, you can seem them here [2].

[1] -- [http://emacsformacosx.com/](http://emacsformacosx.com/)

[2] -- [http://emacsformacosx.com/builds](http://emacsformacosx.com/builds)

~~~
cenazoic
This is the best discussion of the different versions of emacs available for
MacOS I've seen (including emacsformacos):

[http://emacs.stackexchange.com/questions/271/what-is-the-
dif...](http://emacs.stackexchange.com/questions/271/what-is-the-difference-
between-aquamacs-and-other-mac-versions-of-emacs)

Short version: Lunaryorn: "I used to get them from Emacs for Mac OS X, but now
I use Homebrew, because it supports more libraries, notably GNU TLS for
encrypted network connections.

All in all: Use brew install emacs --HEAD --use-git-head --cocoa --with-gnutls
--with-rsvg --with-imagemagick :)"

~~~
craigching
Thanks for that! I went through this on my own quite some time ago and came to
my own conclusion that GNU emacs is the one for me, especially since I do
program on mac os x, Linux and Windows.

EDIT: Well, now that I've read that in full, I'm thinking of giving the
author's conclusion a try:

> All in all: Use brew install emacs --HEAD --use-git-head --cocoa --with-
> gnutls --with-rsvg --with-imagemagick :)

~~~
cenazoic
Heh - my 'short version' was inadvertently included in my top comment. I also
use the brew install version.

------
baby
> A built-in web browser (M-x eww)

What ! Anyone has screenshots of that?

Is there a windows release somewhere?

~~~
viksit
Is it me or is that browser (after looking at the screenshot) really "eww"?

~~~
fafner
Well it is limited by Emacs' display engine. It is obviously not supposed to
replace your default browser. But it is usually good enough to view html
documentation. Which is really something you want inside your editor.

~~~
viksit
Actually - it would be cool if there was something that allowed you to render
markdown atleast.

Also, is this display limitation a function of the OS? In which case,
shouldn't Cocoa/GTK or other versions not have this issue and be able to
actually embed nicer rendering in there with nice fonts?

~~~
mej10
It isn't a limitation of the OS, or of Emacs really. There is a build where
you can embed GTK widgets inside of Emacs. It just isn't at all standard or,
last I checked, well supported (on the level that the usual Emacs distribution
is).

------
jsilence
For distraction free writing, M-x toggle-frame-fullscreen and (set-fringe-mode
'(120 . 120)).

There used to be a bug in earlier emacs Versions requiring a Patch for proper
fullscreen. Have not tried this for a while, but now it seems to work nice and
smooth.

~~~
throwaway20148
I like writeroom-mode[1] for distraction free writing. I only use emacs in a
terminal that's always fullscreen, but I imagine it works just fine in any
case.

[https://github.com/joostkremers/writeroom-
mode](https://github.com/joostkremers/writeroom-mode)

------
1ris
OT: What happened to Guileemacs?

~~~
davexunit
There's been some really good progress lately.

[http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GuileEmacs](http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GuileEmacs)

------
b3b0p
If one wants to start using Emacs is there a recommended starter package that
is recommended over others instead of starting from scratch that can be
learned from over time?

I want to start using Emacs, but starting with a blank slate leaves much to be
desired. Especially when a someone new to Emacs doesn't know what's available
or what can be done or how.

~~~
mordocai
There are a few. I personally started off of a co-workers emacs.d instead, so
I can't tell you which one I like. Here is a list of some of the popular ones:
[http://ergoemacs.org/misc/list_of_emacs_starter_kits.html](http://ergoemacs.org/misc/list_of_emacs_starter_kits.html).

Here is some discussion about how scary starter kits can be too, and some
advice on learning emacs:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/1udtd1/starting_emacs...](http://www.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/1udtd1/starting_emacs_with_preludestarter_kits_scares_me/).

------
imakesnowflakes
Can some one tell me why windows Emacs still does not have a working shell?

One cannot easily run ssh from a shell in windows emacs. I have found that I
cannot push to a bitbucket repo that uses http authentication too from the
shell. But if I run them from a cmd window, these works fine.

What is the technical issue that is preventing emacs from fixing this?

~~~
Derbasti
As far as I understand this, this is a problem with git on Windows. Shells
work just fine with Emacs on Windows, it just can't supply the git password
for some reason.

~~~
zvrba
> Shells work just fine with Emacs on Windows

Except they don't. File-name completion replaced all backslashes with forward
slashes, thus breaking cmd.exe's built-in commands. I reported a bug; it
started a short discussion; i was asked whether I had to use cmd.exe (YES, I
have reasons for why I MUST use it); nobody really acknowledged it was a bug;
the discussion died off in talk about some internal details. (The 24.4 binary
package is not yet available for windows so I couldn't test it.)

See the thread here:
[http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=8132](http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=8132)

~~~
Derbasti
I actually had a similar problem in the past. My workaround was to use some
utilities from gnuwin32, which are native windows ports of the gnu utilities.
With that, you can use gnu mkdir, rm, ls etc instead of the cmd builtins.

------
hrjet
I am not an Emacs user. A long time Vim user who is always on the fence; evil
mode got me interested in Emacs again.

Can anyone please shed some light on the browser? Is it implemented in pure
Lisp? Is it graphical? Does it support javascript?

~~~
tuhdo
It supports html and css, but not Javascript. It is implemented in pure Elisp.

I wrote a few introduction guides to Emacs and its ecosystem:
[http://tuhdo.github.io/](http://tuhdo.github.io/) . The guides do not include
evil-mode though, as I use Emacs key bindings. But installing evil-mode is
easy, and you can immediately use Vim key bindings for editing.

------
peatmoss
Can't wait until homebrew is updated to try this out. A part of me is morbidly
curious to try out the new web browser. This may be the impetus I've been
needing to make the jump to GNUs for my email.

~~~
fafner
The web browser (named eww) is of course limited by the display engine of
Emacs. So don't expect too much. But for reading documentation in html format
it works well for me so far and I guess that's the biggest use-case for it.

------
paseante
Shameless spam:
[https://github.com/kovan/dopemacs](https://github.com/kovan/dopemacs)

------
MarcScott
Just checked and it's now available to brew

------
dimitar
Is there a way to get a list of mirrors that actually have it? I got tired of
searching them so I downloaded it from GNU.

------
lstrope
EWW works well even in a terminal!

------
flyrain
Great job! I really like the new brower: eww, and develop a plugin for
dictionary in Emacs.

