[Pan-users] Re: alternate editor again

[Duncan]

Sebastian Menge <address@hidden> posted
address@hidden, excerpted below, on  Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:26:14
+0000:

> Hi
> 
> Im new to pan and just found the hidden alternate editor command (thanks
> to pan it was easy to search this group :-) )

Just found??  It's not like it was hiding. =8^)

> (g)vim is my default editor. I want to write all articles with vim.
> 
> Two questions:
> * Can I auto-run vim when starting editing? (no <C-e>)

Yes.  Newer pan versions (mine here is SVN, last updated here 07.06.24, 
about says version 0.131, I'm not sure when this option was added, but I 
believe it's fairly new) have an option to always use the configured 
external editor.  Look for it in the compose window Edit menu.

> * gvim has support to be embedded in GTK apps. Would that be an option?

Not to speak for Charles here, but I'm guessing that's not likely, tho 
it's (narrowly) possible the option would be added if someone supplied a 
patch.

Charles has been fairly consistent in a number of development qualities 
when it comes to pan.  Among them, he's a pretty strict bloat fighter, 
known to ruthlessly cut features that significantly add to code size and 
complexity but that few use.  Twice now, I've seen him pretty much strip 
pan to just the bare minimum, and only re-add features as folks ask for 
them (the latest was at the pan-reintro, with the rewrite in C++, last 
year).  Both vim and emacs are corner case used enough for GUI users (the 
pan target audience, obviously), that embedding either isn't particularly 
likely.

OTOH, Charles has also been relatively open to patches, and there are 
some things that he's not likely to code himself, but if someone provides 
a patch that makes sense and integrates well with existing pan, he has 
been reasonably open to adding it.  (One exception is GNKSA breaking 
patches, he worked hard at getting that 100% rating, and isn't interested 
in losing it, tho it's possible to increase connections beyond the GNKSA 
allowed four, by editing the config file directly, so he's open to that, 
at least.)  Thus, if you are a coder, and can create a patch in existing 
code and GUI style that integrates the feature, or if you can persuade 
someone else with the skills to do it if you can't, there's a possibility.

One other characteristic.  Charles has been pretty strict about 
dependencies.  It should be noted that pan doesn't require or use GNOME 
libraries, only GTK+.  Among other things, this keeps porting issues to a 
reasonably manageable level.  pan runs on MSWormOS, among other 
platforms, so anything that would break that is going to be a "No", and 
anything that would seriously complicate it better be a hella good 
feature to justify the additional complexity.  Thus, your patch shouldn't 
introduce additional dependencies, particularly at compile-time, 
including from GNOME itself.  If it does, chances for acceptance go WAY 
down.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman