EmacsConf 2019 - 26a - Emacs: The Editor for the Next Forty Years - Perry E. Metzger (pmetzger)

Perry E. Metzger argues that Emacs must transition from C to Rust and support concurrency to survive the next forty years.

You can watch this video with free software at: media.emacsconf.org/2019/26.html Download (prerecorded): mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/emacsconf/2019/emacsconf-2019-26-… Download (live Q&A): mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/emacsconf/2019/emacsconf-2019-26-… Slides: mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/emacsconf/2019/emacsconf-2019-26-… Notes from pad: • parallel/concurrent code is critical for future • "so far, only Rust has a good story on concurrency" • "C is dying" • "C cannot be written safely by mortals" • "C has to go" • Current language slows down Emacs evolution • Incrementally replace C with Rust • displaying not-text • currently, can't render web pages properly • native PDF rendering • HTML done right is complicated: security/privacy features • proper rendering of HTML is crucial for Emacs future • emails, … • native [LSP support] (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_Server_Protocol) • Debug Adapter Protocol • Emacs should be more like an operating system • better Email experience • IMAP • PIM integration • [CalDAV] (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalDAV) • [CardDAV] (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CardDAV) • [markdown] (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown) support • view Org or Markdown as rendered? • Issue: Org is separate from Emacs • needs to be pervasively integrated? • better chat clients • instead of Slack, Discord, … • rendering of web widgets (video, …) • Hacker-friendly user interface • Emacs bindings everywhere! • macOS vs. KDE/Gnome • Using emacs for everything • everything should feel like Emacs • bad • keyboard design/layout • priority 1. HTML rendering 2. [LSP] (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_Server_Protocol) support 3. modern email, PIM, … 4. concurrency model + future extension language • Q&A starting with 2019-11-02T21.45.10 • Web rendering and daily updates • Future non-programmers as Emacs users • JavaScript-intense sources and Emacs support • default Emacs config to help new users • Is Rust also a candidate to replace Elisp or just C? No, just C. • Running Emacs within a browser • Mobile Emacs • [Remacs project] (github.com/remacs/remacs) • Emacs in Rust • lovely but no user-basis and therefore bad situation • better to use it from inside and not as a fork • Long-term competitors except vim related: • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TECO_(text_editor) • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slack_(software) • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discord_(software) • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servo_(layout_engine) • next.atlas.engineer/ • (used LaTeX/Beamer for presentation) en.wi