Re: Support for MS-Windows build of Emacs

[Juergen Fenn]

Am 30.07.24 um 18:03 Uhr schrieb Eli Zaretskii:
>>> However, as long as people keep wanting to use Emacs on those nonfree
>>> systems, I hope some of them will step forward and support Emacs there.
>>>
>>> Is there a way we can encourage them to?
>> I suggest to look back and ask what was the process until now that the
>> project is facing this situation.
> IMO, there's nothing to look at.  We used to have people here who were
> both Emacs developers and used Emacs on Windows enough to care about
> the port.  They have simply left, for reasons that AFAIR have nothing
> to do with us or the way we do things here.

I presume it's probably due to a change in the focus of interest from
one generation of developers to the next. What's more, there have been
many changes between macOS versions recently. It is a nuisance indeed to
deal with those because you keep constantly adapting to the next version
of macOS which keeps you from working on new features. I have been
watching this in the TeX Live project and the problems they had to deal
with for MacTeX. It could also be that free software is no longer as
attractive as it used to be when you mention it in the skills section of
your CV.

I suggest we spread the word as far as possible. Post it wherever you
can, blog about it, tell it on the social networks and listen to the
feedback. We could also host a session at EmacsConf.

I'm afraid there is little more that I could do because I feel a lot
like Tom in this thread. I'm not a developer, but I have been using
Emacs for over twenty years, first on Windows, and then and macOS, and I
cannot think of a different editor to use instead. I started using Emacs
when I wrote my dissertation thesis in NTEmacs with AUCTeX. So, your
statement that the non-free ports are mostly unmaintained indeed makes
me feel scared.

Best Regards,
Jürgen.