GNU bug report logs - #37818
[PATCH] Various FAQ updates

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2019 23:07:10 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Please find attached three patches with FAQ updates:

1. Remove section on how to enable the default behaviour of having the
region highlighted, which is probably not a frequently asked question.

2. Remove information on large files in ancient versions of Emacs that
would only confuse new users.  This leaves in only the information on
the relatively recent versions of Emacs.

3. Update section on Emacs security to remove reference to the now
very old "movemail" incident, and add relevant information on
packages.  Perhaps this section could be extended, or other risks
added and/or removed.  If anyone has any ideas for what to add, I'd be
happy to do so.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas

[0001-Remove-FAQ-section-Highlighting-a-region.patch (application/octet-stream, attachment)]

[0002-Update-FAQ-section-on-large-files.patch (application/octet-stream, attachment)]

[0003-Update-FAQ-section-on-Emacs-security.patch (application/octet-stream, attachment)]

Message #8 received at 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#37818: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2019 09:27:41 +0300

> From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
> Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2019 23:07:10 +0200
> 
> 1. Remove section on how to enable the default behaviour of having the
> region highlighted, which is probably not a frequently asked question.

OK.

> 2. Remove information on large files in ancient versions of Emacs that
> would only confuse new users.  This leaves in only the information on
> the relatively recent versions of Emacs.

IMO, this section should first tell that Emacs has an inherent fixed
limitation on the size of buffers, as that is not something people
assume nowadays.  It should cite the limitation separately for 32-bit
builds, 32-bit builds --with-wide-int, and 64-bit builds.  Then it
should say that this limitation also imposes size limit on visiting
files, but the file-size limit is roughly about half the buffer limit,
due to decoding and other stuff.  I would also mention visiting
compressed archives, because the size limitation might be hit half-way
through decompression.

Thanks.

Message #11 received at 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#37818: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2019 10:35:43 +0200

Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se> writes:

> 3. Update section on Emacs security to remove reference to the now
> very old "movemail" incident, and add relevant information on
> packages.  Perhaps this section could be extended, or other risks
> added and/or removed.  If anyone has any ideas for what to add, I'd be
> happy to do so.

Looks good to me.  That incident is not something that's frequently
asked about.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

Message #14 received at 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#37818: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2019 14:58:53 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

> > 1. Remove section on how to enable the default behaviour of having the
> > region highlighted, which is probably not a frequently asked question.
>
> OK.

Thanks, pushed to master as commit 11c3ec3df6a.

> > 2. Remove information on large files in ancient versions of Emacs that
> > would only confuse new users.  This leaves in only the information on
> > the relatively recent versions of Emacs.
>
> IMO, this section should first tell that Emacs has an inherent fixed
> limitation on the size of buffers, as that is not something people
> assume nowadays.  It should cite the limitation separately for 32-bit
> builds, 32-bit builds --with-wide-int, and 64-bit builds.  Then it
> should say that this limitation also imposes size limit on visiting
> files, but the file-size limit is roughly about half the buffer limit,
> due to decoding and other stuff.  I would also mention visiting
> compressed archives, because the size limitation might be hit half-way
> through decompression.

Thanks.  I've attached a revised patch here according to your
comments.  I'm not sure what the file size limit is for
--with-wide-int on 32-bit builds or 64-bit builds, so that still needs
adding.  Could someone please give the exact numbers or tell me where
I can find them?

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas

[0001-Update-FAQ-section-on-large-files-Bug-37818.patch (application/octet-stream, attachment)]

Message #17 received at 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#37818: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2019 14:59:52 +0200

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org> writes:

> > 3. Update section on Emacs security to remove reference to the now
> > very old "movemail" incident, and add relevant information on
> > packages.  Perhaps this section could be extended, or other risks
> > added and/or removed.  If anyone has any ideas for what to add, I'd be
> > happy to do so.
>
> Looks good to me.  That incident is not something that's frequently
> asked about.

Thanks.  I'll wait a couple days to see if anyone else has something
to add before I push it.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas

Message #20 received at 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#37818: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2019 17:20:03 +0300

> From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
> Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2019 14:58:53 +0200
> Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> Thanks.  I've attached a revised patch here according to your
> comments.

I have some, see below.

> I'm not sure what the file size limit is for
> --with-wide-int on 32-bit builds or 64-bit builds, so that still needs
> adding.  Could someone please give the exact numbers or tell me where
> I can find them?

See below.

> +Emacs has an inherent fixed limitation on the size of buffers.

I'd suggest to say that the limitation is more strict that the maximum
size of objects supported by programs with the same architecture,
because otherwise this sentence might be misunderstood.

>                                                                  The
> +maximum buffer size on 32-bit machines is 512 MBytes beginning with
> +version 23.2.  If Emacs was built using the @code{--with-wide-int}
> +flag, the maximum buffer size on 32-bit machines is ***FIXME***
> +MBytes.

The number here is 2GB.

> +This limitation imposes a size limit on visiting files, which is
> +roughly half the buffer limit due to things like decoding of multibyte
> +characters.  When visiting compressed archives, the file size
> +limitation will be smaller than that due to decompression.
> +
> +Unless you want to visit unusually large files, this should only be an
> +issue on 32-bit machines.  Emacs compiled on a 64-bit machine can
> +handle much larger buffers.

The limit value for 64-bit builds is that of most-positive-fixnum.

Message #23 received at 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#37818: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2019 15:53:31 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

> > +Emacs has an inherent fixed limitation on the size of buffers.
>
> I'd suggest to say that the limitation is more strict that the maximum
> size of objects supported by programs with the same architecture,
> because otherwise this sentence might be misunderstood.

Done.

>
> >                                                                  The
> > +maximum buffer size on 32-bit machines is 512 MBytes beginning with
> > +version 23.2.  If Emacs was built using the @code{--with-wide-int}
> > +flag, the maximum buffer size on 32-bit machines is ***FIXME***
> > +MBytes.
>
> The number here is 2GB.

Fixed.

> > +This limitation imposes a size limit on visiting files, which is
> > +roughly half the buffer limit due to things like decoding of multibyte
> > +characters.  When visiting compressed archives, the file size
> > +limitation will be smaller than that due to decompression.
> > +
> > +Unless you want to visit unusually large files, this should only be an
> > +issue on 32-bit machines.  Emacs compiled on a 64-bit machine can
> > +handle much larger buffers.
>
> The limit value for 64-bit builds is that of most-positive-fixnum.

Fixed.  Please find attached an updated patch.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas

[0001-Update-FAQ-section-on-large-files-Bug-37818.patch (application/octet-stream, attachment)]

Message #26 received at 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#37818: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2019 17:48:45 +0300

> From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
> Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2019 15:53:31 +0200
> Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> Fixed.  Please find attached an updated patch.

LGTM, thanks.

Message #29 received at 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#37818: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2019 01:10:50 +0200

Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se> writes:
> Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org> writes:
> > Looks good to me.  That incident is not something that's frequently
> > asked about.
>
> Thanks.  I'll wait a couple days to see if anyone else has something
> to add before I push it.

No one seemed to have any further comments.  I've therefore pushed
this to master as commit 61223a046c3.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas

Message #32 received at 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 37818 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#37818: [PATCH] Various FAQ updates
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2019 01:11:58 +0200

close 37818 27.1
quit

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:
> LGTM, thanks.

Thanks, pushed to master as commit b3b74514e9.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas

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