GNU bug report logs - #31852
Make memory-limit obsolete

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From: help-debbugs <at> gnu.org (GNU bug Tracking System)
To: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
Cc: tracker <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#31852: closed (Make memory-limit obsolete)
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2018 15:36:02 +0000

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Your message dated Sat, 16 Jun 2018 08:34:52 -0700
with message-id <e621adb5-7caf-256f-35cc-6c51979cfd05 <at> cs.ucla.edu>
and subject line Re: bug#31852: Make memory-limit obsolete
has caused the debbugs.gnu.org bug report #31852,
regarding Make memory-limit obsolete
to be marked as done.

(If you believe you have received this mail in error, please contact
help-debbugs <at> gnu.org.)


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From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Emacs bug reports <bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org>
Subject: Make memory-limit obsolete
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2018 18:33:47 -0700

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Tags: patch

The memory-limit function has an implementation that is a relic of 
long-ago days when the heap was allocated via sbrk. This assumption is 
often no longer true now that ASLR is popular, and once we get portable 
dumping work it'll be true even less often. Since memory-limit returns 
nonsense so often and since nobody cares, we can and should mark 
memory-limit as obsolete. On its way out we can move it to a Lisp 
implementation and cause it to be at least somewhat more plausible.

Proposed patches attached. The first patch moves memory-limit to Lisp, 
the second one marks it obsolete. I didn't know where to put the Lisp 
implementation so I put it into lisp/subr.el.

[0001-Rewrite-memory-limit-in-Lisp.patch (text/x-patch, attachment)]

[0002-Obsolete-memory-limit.patch (text/x-patch, attachment)]

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From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 31852-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#31852: Make memory-limit obsolete
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2018 08:34:52 -0700

Eli Zaretskii wrote:

> If nobody uses the function, I see no gain at all, because obsoleting
> a function tells those who use it not to.

If Emacs has useless and confusing features that consume documentation space and 
implementation resources, that is a net harm to current and future users. 
Omitting such features is therefore a net gain to users. The benefit to users by 
omitting useless and confusing features is worth the maintenance cost to us of 
obsoleting these features.

That being said, it appears I haven't convinced you to obsolete memory-limit, so 
I installed patch 1 but not patch 2 and am closing the bug report.

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