Freemacs is a programmable editor. The .EXE file is only 21K because
it only contains a language interpreter and text editor primitives. The
bulk of the programming is done in MINT, which is a string-oriented
language. Freemacs is yet another Emacs clone. Emacs was first written
at MIT by Richard M. Stallman.

There are a number of Emacs clones for the PC available. Unlike all
the others, Freemacs is the only IBM-PC editor that tries to be like
GNU Emacs. Freemacs's only major failings are that it cannot edit files
larger than 64K, and it has no undo facility.

You may freely copy this software. I only ask that you send
improvements back to me for incorporation into the package for the
rest of us. Information on how to get the distribution is available
in the file HOWTOGET.IT

Addresses, electronic and otherwise:

Author:Russell Nelson
Bitnet:[email protected]
Internet:[email protected]
UUCP:{smart host}!clutx.clarkson.edu!nelson
Snail:11 Grant St., Potsdam, NY 13676


There is a mailing list for the Internet.

Subscriptions:
To subscribe, send a message of the form "subscribe freemacs" to
one of the following addresses:
BITNET: listserv%[email protected]
Internet: [email protected]
UUCP: {smart host}!sun.soe.clarkson.edu!listserv

Submissions:
Send mail to freemacs at one of the following addresses:
BITNET: freemacs%[email protected]
Internet: [email protected]
UUCP: {smart host}!sun.soe.clarkson.edu!freemacs


Getting started:

Obviously you have unarced this file already, so you don't need to be
told how to unarc things. You should put all the Freemacs files into
a subdirectory (I will assume \EMACS).

DOS 2.x users:

You need to add a line to your autoexec.bat file that reads "set
emacs=x:\EMACS\". Replace "x:" with the drive that you have placed
Freemacs in. There is nothing magical about \EMACS, however you must
have a trailing backslash. Move EMACS.EXE to your bin subdirectory.
You may rename it if you wish--I suggest E.EXE.

DOS 3.x and 4.x users:

You should ensure that emacs is executed out of the subdirectory in which
the Freemacs files are stored. You can do this two ways -- you can include
\EMACS in your path, or you can put a small batch file on your path. For
an example of a batch file, look at the included E.BAT.


If you are unfamiliar with Emacs, you should run emacs, get help, and read
the tutorial. The opening screen has instructions for doing this.


Modifying Freemacs:

There are lots of simple changes that you can make without really needing
to understand MINT. For example, the mode line uses inverse video. If
you would like to change the colors, use M-x edit-options.

If you would like to do simple customizations like key rebinding, see
the file CUSTOMIZ.DOC.

If you would like to learn how to program in MINT, see the file MINTTUT.DOC.