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From: "Richard M. Stallman" <rms AT gnu DOT org>
To: jbuehler AT spirentcom DOT com
CC: eliz AT gnu DOT org, emacs-devel AT gnu DOT org, emacs_user AT hotmail DOT com,
   cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
In-reply-to: <42FB6AF2.2060301@spirentcom.com> (message from Joe Buehler on 	Thu, 11 Aug 2005 11:12:50 -0400)
Subject: Re: is there a cygwin maintainer for gnu emacs?
Reply-to: rms AT gnu DOT org
References: <BAY107-F29E79AE5E6EDDEC1D619EBF8BA0 AT phx DOT gbl>	<42F9E707 DOT 1030302 AT spirentcom DOT com> 	<ull39oevh DOT fsf AT gnu DOT org> <E1E3E1X-0003e9-Kh AT fencepost DOT gnu DOT org> <42FB6AF2 DOT 2060301 AT spirentcom DOT com>
Message-Id: <E1E3b0f-0002lP-0U@fencepost.gnu.org>
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 10:59:49 -0400

    I have to disgree with that, it's the instant gut ueber-programmer
    reaction to such problems.   Currently the user just gets an exiting
    emacs, leaving me with no clue as to why emacs exited.

It crashed.  It has a bug.  What more is there to say?

      I then have to
    provide instructions to the user as to how to run the $*&$%#!!! debugger
    to help me figure out what happened.  The debugger that he may or may
    not have installed, and may or may not even be ABLE to install.

Printing a message would not change this situation.  Debugging the bug
will always require doing these things, and if they can't be done, the
bug can't be debugged.

    A simple last-ditch printf that says "corruption detected during
    garbage collection, see you later" would be a much easier way to get an
    initial handle on what the heck the problem is.

How would such a message have helped anyone?  Practically speaking, I
don't see how it would change anything.

      As it was, without any
    message, my initial suspicion was a SEGV or similar, which would be
    much more likely to be a Cygwin problem than an emacs problem.

Until the bug is debugged, we know nothing about where the cause lies.
The fact that it manifested itself in this way, that it was GC where the
bug bit, really tells us nothing.

That is why a message would not really help.  The visible details of
the crash tell us nothing about its cause.  It was caused by a long
chain of events, and we know nothing about where it started.  Any
feeling you might get, from such a message, that you know what's going
on would be a false feeling.



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