Update Antinews in the Emacs manual

* doc/emacs/anti.texi (Antinews): Rewrite for Emacs 27.
* doc/emacs/emacs.texi (Top): Update the "Antiniews" item of the
top-level menu.
This commit is contained in:
Eli Zaretskii 2020-01-10 12:28:06 +02:00
parent 5841240295
commit 5efe795659
2 changed files with 96 additions and 108 deletions

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@ -4,103 +4,112 @@
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions. @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@node Antinews @node Antinews
@appendix Emacs 25 Antinews @appendix Emacs 26 Antinews
@c Update the emacs.texi Antinews menu entry with the above version number. @c Update the emacs.texi Antinews menu entry with the above version number.
For those users who live backwards in time, here is information For those users who live backwards in time, here is information
about downgrading to Emacs version 25.3. We hope you will enjoy the about downgrading to Emacs version 26.3. We hope you will enjoy the
greater simplicity that results from the absence of many @w{Emacs greater simplicity that results from the absence of many @w{Emacs
@value{EMACSVER}} features. @value{EMACSVER}} features.
@itemize @bullet @itemize @bullet
@item @item
Emacs no longer defaults to requiring the GnuTLS library when you Emacs no longer uses @acronym{GMP}, the GNU Multiple Precision
build it. Those who want the TLS functionality built-in will have to library, and doesn't support Lisp integers greater than
explicitly request it at build time---or forever hold their peace. We @code{most-positive-fixnum} or smaller than
decided that having the TLS functionality doesn't justify annoying @code{most-negative-fixnum}. We now have only one kind of a Lisp
users or package builders with error messages about libgnutls absence. integer. This simplifies many Lisp programs that use integers, and
We also decided that if you do build with GnuTLS, we will allow makes integer calculations always fast. If you want larger values,
versions of the library older than 2.12.2, as that version will become use Lisp floats, as Emacs has done since day one.
less and less available/popular as you move farther back in time.
@item @item
For similar reasons, we've reverted back to building our own version Emacs no longer supports HarfBuzz as the engine for shaping complex
of @command{movemail} that retrieves POP3 mail as clear text via text. As you move back in time, we will gradually shed off all traces
insecure channels. As you move back in time, the availability of of support for complex text shaping, and this is one step in that
secure alternatives to POP3 will diminish, and we are only keen to direction.
support that. We've also removed the @option{--with-mailutils}
configure-time option, as it no longer makes sense for the observable
past.
@item @item
We have removed support for @command{systemd} and similar services: we We have removed support for building with the Jansson library, and
no longer provide a user init file for enabling Emacs support via consequently the native support for JSON parsing is gone. The
those services, and we removed from the Emacs server the importance of JSON decreases as we go back in time, so for now using
socket-launching support important for Emacs client operation under the Lisp code for handling it should be good enough; in one of the
these services. Again, these services will lose popularity as you past Emacs versions, we intend to remove even that, as useless bloat.
move back in time, so the code supporting them will be just dead code,
bloating Emacs unnecessarily. The library for supporting JSONRPC applications was removed for the
same reason.
@item @item
Reproducible builds of Emacs are no longer supported, as past The ``portable dumper'' feature is gone. We are once again using the
development will make that unnecessary. field-proven ``unexec'' way of dumping Emacs. With that, the hope for
being able to re-dump your customized Emacs session is also gone: why
would anyone want to record their random customization experiments on
disk, and restore them the next time they start Emacs? And true
Emacsers don't restart their Emacs sessions anyway.
@item @item
The @option{--fg-daemon} is gone, leaving only @option{--daemon}. No We dropped the support for @acronym{XDG}-style configuration
need to procrastinate on the dilemma whether you do or do not want the directories and the @env{XDG_CONFIG_HOME} environment variable.
new shiny ``headless Emacs'' thingy. Hail, simplicity! There's once again only one place where Emacs looks for its init
files: the @file{~/.emacs.d} directory, with the @file{~/.emacs} file
as fallback. We think this will go a long way towards preventing
confusion among users who for some reason have @env{XDG_CONFIG_HOME}
set, thus risking to have their init files randomly spread between two
places. In one of the past Emacs versions, we intend to further
simplify this, removing the @file{~/.emacs.d} place and leaving only
@file{~/.emacs}; stay tuned.
For similar reasons, we've removed the ``early init'' file. You can
now again use all the tricks you want to initialize variables like
@code{package-user-dir} and @code{package-load-list} just in time for
the packages to load.
@command{emacsclient} no longer supports @acronym{XDG}-style directory
trees, either.
@item @item
As text terminals supporting true color will lose ground as you move TLS connections are back to their lenient security settings. We
back in time, we've removed support for 24-bit colors on text decide that too tight security settings are an annoyance for users,
terminals. If you want colors on a text terminal, you should be fine and make little sense considering the world-wide tendency to have less
with just 8 of them. (Truth being told, we think text terminals and less network security problems as we move back in time (those
should be monochrome, but you will have to keep downgrading to older issues will be completely gone when networks disappear in some distant
Emacs versions to have that feature back.) past).
@item @item
Emacs 25.3 no longer supports magic signatures of the form The @code{server-after-make-frame-hook} hook was deleted, in
@samp{#!/usr/bin/env @var{interpreter}} in scripts. Moving back in preparation for removing the entire daemon business in some past Emacs
time means you are getting closer to the ideal of the original Unix version. You will be glad to learn that setting up the GUI
design where all the interpreters lived in a single directory customizations of your sessions is now once again as easy as it ever
@file{/bin}, so this fancy feature is simply becoming unnecessary was, with just the @code{after-make-frame-functions} to use.
ballast.
@item @item
The double-buffering feature of Emacs display on X has been removed. The @code{flex} completion style was removed. We feel that it
We decided that its complexity and a few random surprising unnecessarily complicates the Emacs user experience, and therefore
side-effects aren't justified by the gains, even though those gains will continue to remove other tricky completion styles, until in some
were hailed in some quarters. Yes, Emacs 25.3 will flicker in some past Emacs version we get to a single original style Emacs pioneered
use cases, but we are sure Emacs users will be able to suck it, as decades ago. Long live simplicity; down with complications!
they have been doing for years. Since this feature is gone, we've
also removed the @code{inhibit-double-buffering} frame parameter,
which is now unnecessary.
@item @item
Non-breaking hyphens and ASCII characters displayed instead of The optional display of the fill-column indicator is no longer
unsupported quote characters are now again displayed using the supported. With the display sizes becoming smaller and smaller as you
@code{escape-glyph} face. We think having a single face instead of 3 move back in time, we feel that the display itself will always show
different ones will make Emacs customization a much simpler job for you where to fill or wrap your text, and do this much more easily and
users. For the same reason, we've removed the reliably than eny such display indicator.
@code{header-line-highlight} face, leaving just @code{highlight} for
any element of the Emacs display besides the mode line.
@item @item
You can no longer disable attempts of recovery from fatal exceptions We removed the features that made visiting large files easier. Thus,
such as C stack overflows and fatal signals. Since the recovery Emacs will no longer suggest visiting a large file literally, nor will
included in Emacs is reliable enough, we decided there was no reason offer the @code{so-long} mode to deal with overly-long lines. We
to put your edits in danger of becoming lost when these situations decided that this simplification is worthwhile, given the general
happen. The variables @code{attempt-stack-overflow-recovery} and tendency of having very large files a rarity as we move back in time.
@code{attempt-orderly-shutdown-on-fatal-signal} are therefore removed.
@item @item
The @code{list-timers} command was removed, as we decided timers are We have removed the feature that displayed echo-area messages without
not a user-level feature, and therefore users should not be allowed to hiding content of the active minibuffer. This should prevent user
mess with them. Ask an Emacs Lisp guru near you for help if you have confusion from having two unrelated pieces of text staring at them,
a runaway timer in your session. (Of course, as you move back in with no clear separation between them. Users with good memories (and
time, such runaway timers will become less and less frequent, and Emacs users are all expected to be of that kind) will have no trouble
actually timers might start shutting down automatically, as they keeping the minibuffer text in their minds, and typing the responses
cannot cope with time reversal.) without actually seeing the prompts.
@item @item
Horizontal scrolling using the mouse or touchpad has been removed. In Horizontal scrolling using the mouse or touchpad has been removed. In
@ -110,14 +119,20 @@ horizontal scrolling is the first step towards its complete removal in
prior Emacs versions. prior Emacs versions.
@item @item
We have found the @option{--tramp} option of @command{emacsclient} too The @code{main-thread} variable and @code{list-threads} were removed,
risky and too complicated, so we removed it to simplify the client and @code{thread-join} no longer returns the result of the finished
code and its usage. thread. We intend to remove the support for Lisp threads in some past
Emacs version, so we continue removing the associated complexities and
features as we go back in time.
@item @item
The @code{display-raw-bytes-as-hex} variable is gone, so raw bytes can Tab bar and window tab-lines were removed. This should make the Emacs
only be displayed as octal escapes. Emacs users should be able to display simpler and less cluttered, and help those users who disable
convert from octal to any other base in their sleep! menu bar and tool bar in their GUI sessions. The fashion to provide
tabs in every GUI application out there is gaining less and less
popularity as we move back in time, and will completely disappear at
some past point; removing the tabs from Emacs is the step in that
direction.
@item @item
Displaying line numbers for a buffer is only possibly using add-on Displaying line numbers for a buffer is only possibly using add-on
@ -129,42 +144,15 @@ Consequently, @code{display-line-numbers-mode} was removed.
@item @item
On our permanent quest for simplifying Emacs, we've removed the On our permanent quest for simplifying Emacs, we've removed the
support for passing command-line arguments and options to Emacs via support for changing the font size by turning the mouse wheel.
the @option{--alternate-editor} option of @command{emacsclient} and
@env{ALTERNATE_EDITOR} environment variable. There's only one True
Emacs---the one that comes up when invoked as @kbd{emacs}, no need for
all those fancy options!
@item
The complication known as ``single-line horizontal scrolling'' is no
longer with you in Emacs 25.3. This feature was a bow to ``other
editors''; instead, let those other editors bow to Emacs by hscrolling
the entire window at all times. Repeat after me: ``The Emacs way is
the Only Way!''
@item
The fancy case conversions of non-ASCII characters used in several
locales, like Turkish and Greek, are removed, leaving the relations
between upper and lower letter-case simple again, as they were in
7-bit ASCII. Likewise with ligatures that turn into multiple
characters when their letter-case changes---gone.
@item
Enchant is no longer supported by @code{ispell-buffer} and similar
spell-checking commands. As Enchant will gradually disappear while
you move back in time, its support will become unnecessary anyway.
@item
Tramp lost its support for Google Drive repositories. Cloud storage
is on its way to extinction as you move back in time, thus making this
feature redundant.
@item @item
Several commands, deemed to be unnecessary complications, have been Several commands, deemed to be unnecessary complications, have been
removed. Examples include @code{replace-buffer-contents} and removed. Examples include @code{make-empty-file},
@code{apropos-local-variable}. @code{font-lock-refontify}, @code{xref-find-definitions-at-mouse},
@code{make-frame-on-monitor}, and @code{diff-buffers}.
@item @item
To keep up with decreasing computer memory capacity and disk space, many To keep up with decreasing computer memory capacity and disk space, many
other functions and files have been eliminated in Emacs 25.3. other functions and files have been eliminated in Emacs 26.3.
@end itemize @end itemize

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@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ Appendices
* GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation. * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
* Emacs Invocation:: Hairy startup options. * Emacs Invocation:: Hairy startup options.
* X Resources:: X resources for customizing Emacs. * X Resources:: X resources for customizing Emacs.
* Antinews:: Information about Emacs version 25. * Antinews:: Information about Emacs version 26.
* Mac OS / GNUstep:: Using Emacs under macOS and GNUstep. * Mac OS / GNUstep:: Using Emacs under macOS and GNUstep.
* Microsoft Windows:: Using Emacs on Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS. * Microsoft Windows:: Using Emacs on Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS.
* Manifesto:: What's GNU? Gnu's Not Unix! * Manifesto:: What's GNU? Gnu's Not Unix!