90: What is the difference between Emacs and XEmacs (formerly "Lucid
Emacs")?
First of all, they're both GNU Emacs. XEmacs is just as much a later
version of GNU Emacs 18 as the FSF-distributed version. This FAQ refers
to the latest version to be distributed by the FSF as "Emacs," partly
because the XEmacs maintainers now refer to their product using the
"XEmacs" name, and partly because there isn't any accurate way to
differentiate between the two without getting mired in paragraphs of
legalese and history.
XEmacs, which began life as Lucid Emacs, is based on an early version of
Emacs 19 and Epoch, an X-aware version of Emacs 18.
Emacs (i.e., the version distributed by the FSF) has a larger installed
base and supports character terminals, while XEmacs can do some clever
tricks with X Windows, such as putting arbitrary graphics in a buffer.
Emacs and XEmacs each come with Lisp packages that are lacking in the
other; RMS says that the FSF would include more packages that come with
XEmacs, but that the XEmacs maintainers don't always keep track of the
authors of contributed code, which makes it impossible for the FSF to
have certain legal papers signed. (Without these legal papers, the FSF
will not distribute Lisp packages with Emacs.)
Many XEmacs features have found their way into recent versions of Emacs,
and more features can be expected in the future, but there are still many
differences between the two packages.
The latest version of XEmacs as of this writing is 19.11; you can get it
at
ftp://ftp.cs.uiuc.edu/pub/xemacs/xemacs-19.11.tar.gz
More information about XEmacs, including a list of frequently asked
questions (FAQ), is available at
http://xemacs.cs.uiuc.edu/