Why 19.34? [Oldest running Emacs version]

[Alan Mackenzie]

In comp.emacs Brian Masinick <masinick@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I can't remember how long ago it was, but I happened to come across a
> GNU Emacs 18.55 or 19.57 implementation.  Though my very first
> introduction to Emacs actually happened on a MULTICS system and the
> version was prior to the creation of GNU Emacs, I actually started
> using GNU Emacs regularly around the time that 18.55 came out.  I
> probably used 18.55 for around a year, then moved to 18.57, 18.58
> briefly, and 18.59 before starting to use the 19 releases.  I probably
> used 19.28 and 19.34 more than any other releases in that release
> cycle.  I think I've used all of the version 20 releases and I've
> definitely used all of the version 21 releases.

A question from a "newbie":  What was so special about GNU Emacs 19.34?
Why did it become (and stay) so popular?  You've indicated that there
were versions 19.xx for xx > 34.  There are Info files which refer
specifically to 19.34 (well, at least one that does).  Books (well, at
least one book) say "The examples in this book ... were tested in GNU
Emacs version 19.34 ...".

So, why 19.34?

> Way back in version 18, there were really basic X11 capabilities that
> were implemented through the direct use of X11 Xlib calls.  As such,
> performance was pretty good, and overhead was modest, compared to
> today's software, but the capabilities of the graphical interface were
> rather limited.  The Epoch project and the Lucid Emacs project were
> initiated to improve the X support.  For better or for worse, that's
> where the separation came between the GNU Emacs and the XEmacs
> projects.

> gatekeeper.dec.com, accessible through anonymous FTP, contains many
> versions of GNU Emacs software.  The oldest version they still have
> available is a version of 19.34.

Sorry, which release was that again, exactly?  ;-)

Thanks in advance!

> -- 
> Brian Masinick
> mailto:masinick@yahoo.com

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Munich, Germany)
Email: aacm@muuc.dee; to decode, wherever there is a repeated letter
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