Subject: Re: bug#49278: 28.0.50; Lisp Mode is for Common Lisp

From: Stefan Monnier <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2021 16:46:10 -0400

>> +  Lisp mode is the major mode for editing programs written in Common
>> +Lisp or its ancestor dialects.  Its mode command is @kbd{M-x

I think we should remove "or its ancestor dialects" here.

>>  (define-derived-mode lisp-mode lisp-data-mode "Lisp"
>> -  "Major mode for editing Lisp code for Lisps other than GNU Emacs Lisp.
>> +  "Major mode for editing Common Lisp code.
> Here I'd prefer to mention CL without un-mentioning the other Lisps.
> There's no reason to deny they exist or existed.

The question is to describe what this major mode is designed to do.

People who want to look at Maclisp code (or other defunct dialects) will
probably want to use `lisp-mode` for the simple reason that Maclisp is
reasonably close to Common Lisp so it's the closest major mode we have
to offer, but the user should not expect correct handling of Maclisp in
those places where it differs from Common Lisp, because `lisp-mode` is
written specifically for Common Lisp and not for Maclisp: compatibility
with Maclisp has not been taken into account for more than 20
years, AFAIK.

        Stefan