User:Church of emacs/FAQ

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Frequently Asked Questions

Church of what...?

Church of emacs. It's just a nickname.

What is “Church of emacs” supposed to mean?

There has been (and there still is) an Editor war. Many people participated in huge discussions in the Usenet and elsewhere. And all that just for the question which editor is best™. Basically, there were two parties: The followers of vi and those of emacs. The question which editor is best lead to one of the lamest flame wars ever.

And what's with the “Church”?

The “Church of emacs” was founded by Richard Stallman (author of the emacs editor). As some users admired and fought for it with true passion, a religion was founded. Why are emacs followers the good guys? Simple: Repeat “vi” three times and you get vi vi vi. Interpret this as Latin numbers, and you get 666, the Number of the Beast. Since vi users are obviously evil, emacs is good.

What does that have to do with you?

Not much. At the time I created my account (in early 2006), I stumbled upon (and laughed about) this story. In a moment of sheer uncreativity, I chose this as my username.

Are you a emacs fanatic?

Nope. I sometimes use emacs and I never tried vi. I support free software. But I'm not an emacs-geek who does everything with emacs. And you can't scare me by shouting “vi” at me. Believe me, others have tried.