Programming Quote by Clifford Stoll
““Over the past decade Stallman created a powerful editing program called Gnu-Emacs. But Gnu’s much more than just a text editor. It’s easy to customize to your personal preferences. It’s a foundation upon which other programs can be built. It even has its own mail facility built in. Naturally, our physicists demanded Gnu; with an eye to selling more computing cycles, we installed it happily.””
About This Quote
Source Interview: “The Astronomical Diary” by Clifford Stoll, 1995
Gnu-Emacs is more than a text editor; it’s a customizable foundation for many tools, reflecting the power of open‑source flexibility.
In simple terms: Gnu-Emacs is a versatile, extensible platform.
Key Takeaway
Leverage open‑source tools for adaptable workflows.
Themes
technology
customization
open source
productivity
Mood
enthusiastic
pragmatic
Type
informational
inspirational
When to use this quote
- software development
- academic research
- personal computing
- system integration
Key Concepts
software architecture
modularity
community development
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you customize tools to fit your workflow?
- What are the trade‑offs of using highly extensible software?
A Different Perspective
Open‑source tools may require steep learning curves for non‑technical users.
![“[Emacs] is written in Lisp, which is the only computer language that is beautiful.” quote by Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c96/neal-stephenson-362_beautiful_emacs-is-written-in-lisp-which-is-the-on_3211725.jpg)
