@c -*-texinfo-*- @c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual. @c Copyright (C) 1999, 2002--2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc. @c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions. @c This node must have no pointers. @node Antinews @appendix Emacs 28 Antinews @c Update the elisp.texi Antinews menu entry with the above version number. For those users who live backwards in time, here is information about downgrading to Emacs version 28.2. We hope you will enjoy the greater simplicity that results from the absence of many @w{Emacs @value{EMACSVER}} features. @itemize @bullet @item The implementation of overlays is back to its simple, time-proven storage in a pair of linear linked lists centered around some buffer position. No more fancy interval trees and suchlikes. Lisp programs that use overlays once again need to recenter overlays around the buffer position of interest, and display-related features should again make sure they don't use too many overlays in a buffer, lest redisplay will be too slow. @item Several functions stopped the annoying conversion of quotes and key sequences by no longer calling @code{substitute-command-keys}. One prominent example is @code{format-prompt} and all its many callers. This makes the strings they produce much more predictable, returning to you, the Lisp programmer, control on which punctuation characters will appear in the text presented to the users. For similar reasons, the @code{substitute-quotes} function was deleted. @item The venerable @code{buffer-modified-p} function again reliably returns either @code{nil} or @code{t}, not any other confusing values. @item The support for @samp{medium} weight of fonts was dropped. Emacs now considers @samp{medium} and @samp{regular} weights to be the same. We believe this will simplify your font setup, since there's no longer a need to worry about fonts that support @samp{regular} weight, but not the @samp{medium} one, or vice versa: either one will do! @item To reduce the amount of code in Emacs related to unimportant features, we've removed the function @code{compiled-function-p}. Lisp programs are expected to test explicitly for the relevant types of function objects: built-in, byte-compiled, and natively-compiled. For the same reasons we deleted the functions @code{pos-bol}, @code{pos-eol}, @code{file-attribute-file-identifier}, and quite a few others. We don't expect anyone to miss those fancy functions. @item The timeout used by @code{x-show-tip} can no longer be specified by Lisp programs; it is hard-coded in the function. This will lead to a simpler, easier maintained code, and no one should want to control the timeout after which the tip pops down. @item The macro @code{setopt} was deleted; use @code{customize-variable} instead, or invoke the @code{:set} function from Lisp. @item We removed the @code{lisp-directory} variable, as the value can be easily deduced from other similar variables, like @code{installation-directory} and @code{source-directory}, each one when it's relevant. @item To simplify code and reduce complexity, we deleted the functions @code{get-display-property} and @code{add-display-text-property}; use the generic @code{get-text-property} and @code{put-text-property} instead. @item Support for pinch input events and for modern drag-and-drop functionality on X was dropped. As you move back in time, these facilities will become less and less important, and will soon enough disappear, so there's no reason to keep them in Emacs. @item To keep Emacs clean and elegant, we've removed the @file{textsec.el} library, with its facilities for checking whether some text is ``suspicious''. We consider our users smart enough to detect maliciously modified text by just looking at it or by moving the cursor across it, and the whole idea that someone would wish to deliberately deceive Emacs users ridiculous and unworthy of complicating our elegant text-processing and display capabilities. @item The functions @code{keymap-set}, @code{keymap-global-set}, @code{keymap-local-set}, @code{keymap-substitute}, @code{keymap-lookup}, and some others were deleted. We have found the traditional @code{define-key}, @code{global-set-key}, @code{local-set-key}, @code{substitute-key-definition}, and @code{key-binding} more than enough, and their minor inconsistencies in the syntax of keys they accept a source of endless fun in Emacs Lisp programming. Why make Emacs programming a dull place? For the same reasons we deleted @code{key-valid-p}, since we consider the permissive nature of @code{kbd} more in the spirit of Emacs Lisp. @item Yanking of anything but plain text from other applications becomes more and more an unnecessary feature as you move back in time, so we dropped support for pasting media like HTML and images via the clipboard. If you @i{really} need to yank those into an Emacs buffer, you can go via a disk file. @item We removed unnecessary functions @code{string-pixel-width} and @code{string-glyph-split}, as we consider it inappropriate for Lisp programs to do display layout calculations, where these functions come in handy. Display is for the display engine, written in C, and should stay there! @item Various new Xwidget functions, such as @code{xwidget-perform-lispy-event}, @code{xwidget-webkit-load-html}, and @code{xwidget-webkit-back-forward-list}, were deleted as part of our continuing effort to gradually delete the entire Xwidget functionality in some previous release of Emacs. @item Setting the @code{:stderr} property of a process in a @code{make-process} call once again forces the process's connection to use pipes, not ptys, for all the standard streams --- a considerable simplification of this complex interface. @item To keep the amount of Lisp functions from growing out of control, we deleted @code{string-equal-ignore-case}. Use @code{compare-strings} instead. Several features that complicated the byte compiler have been removed: @itemize @minus @item The warnings about quoting mistakes in documentation strings. You are expected to find such mistakes yourself, by eyeballing the resulting @file{*Help*} buffer display. @item The warnings about malformed @code{defcustom} types, like double-quoting symbols in @code{choice} lists. @end itemize @item The macro @code{with-buffer-unmodified-if-unchanged} was deleted. Lisp programs that need to leave the buffer unmodified in these cases can always compare the text before and after the modifications. @item The functions @code{string-edit} and @code{read-string-from-buffer} were removed, as we consider the fun of programming them anew every time an important part of the education of each Emacs Lisp developer. @item We deleted the function @code{readablep} and the related variable @code{print-unreadable-function}, since no one is supposed to want to print unreadable Lisp objects. @item The facility for storing multisession variables was deleted as an unnecessary complication. With it are gone @code{multisession-value}, @code{define-multisession-variable}, and @code{list-multisession-values}. @item The support for the @code{cursor-face} text property was dropped. We consider the rest of the faces adequate for supporting this functionality. @item The function @code{tooltip-show} dropped support for optional face arguments @code{text-face} and @code{default-face} that allow fancy control of the face of the tip text and top frame colors. We decided that tooltips should all look the same, to prevent user confusion. @item As part of the ongoing quest for simplicity, many other functions and variables have been eliminated. Other functions and variables, that were declared obsolete since Emacs 24, have been added back, in preparation for releasing Emacs 24 in some distant past. @end itemize