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https://github.com/troglobit/mg

Micro (GNU) Emacs-like text editor ❤️ public-domain
https://github.com/troglobit/mg

alpine-linux bsd cygwin debian docker-image dragonfly dragonflybsd editor emacs freebsd illumos linux macos micro-emacs musl-libc netbsd openbsd solaris text-editor unix

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Micro (GNU) Emacs-like text editor ❤️ public-domain

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README 

        
Micro (GNU) Emacs

=================

[![License Badge][]][License] [![GitHub Status][]][GitHub] [![Coverity Status][]][Coverity Scan]



Contents

--------




* [Introduction](#introduction)

* [Usage](#usage)

* [Building](#building)

* [Docker](#docker)

* [History](#history)

* [Origin & References](#origin--references)



Introduction

------------



Mg is a [Micro Emacs][] clone created in 1987, based on the original

[MicroEMACS][] v30 released by Dave Conroy in 1985.  The name, "Micro

GNU Emacs", was disputed early on by the FSF, so today it simply goes by

`mg`.  This software is fully free and in the public domain.



The intention is to be a small, fast, and portable Emacs-like editor for

users who cannot, or do not want to, run the real Emacs for one reason

or another.  Compatibility with GNU Emacs is key for Mg, separating it

from other [ErsatzEmacs][] clones, because there should never be any

reason to learn more than one Emacs flavor.



> Try the [latest release](https://github.com/troglobit/mg/releases/latest),

> use the tarball with a version in the name, avoid GitHub generated links!

> Releases come with a `configure` script, so you don't need autotools.

> Only a C compiler, `make` and you're set to go.



Usage

-----



When Emacs was born keyboards had a `Meta` key.  Accessing functions

with `Meta` combinations today is usually the same as holding down the

`Alt` key, or tapping `Esc` once.



Other editors use short forms like `Ctrl-V` or `^V`, in Emacs this is

written `C-v`.  Some usage examples:



| **Key** | **Short** | **Example** | **Description**                       |

|---------|-----------|-------------|---------------------------------------|

| Meta    | M-        | M-x         | Hold down `Alt` and tap `x`           |

| Ctrl    | C-        | C-g         | Hold down `Ctrl` and tap `g`          |

| Ctrl    | C-        | C-x C-c     | Hold down `Ctrl` then tap `x` and `c` |



To access the built-in Quick Help, press `C-h q`, meaning: hold down

`Ctrl` and tap `h`, then release `Ctrl` and tap `q`.  The `-` has a

meaning, as you can see.



Building

--------



This project is completely self hosting.  However, by default you need a

termcap library, like [Ncurses][], to provide APIs like: `setupterm()`,

`tgoto()`, and `tputs()`.



> See below for how to *build without Ncurses*.



### With termcap/terminfo/curses



On recent Debian/Ubuntu based systems `libtinfo-dev` can be used, on

older ones the include file `term.h` is missing, so `libncurses-dev`

must be used instead:



    sudo apt install libtinfo-dev



or



    sudo apt install libncurses-dev



On other systems you have to install the full Ncurses library instead,

on RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora:



    sudo yum install ncurses-devel



or



    sudo dnf install ncurses-devel



On macOS you need the Xcode command line tools and headers:



    xcode-select --install



Then build Mg from the unpacked release tarball:



    ./configure

    make

    sudo make install



### Without curses, completely stand-alone



    make clean

    ./configure --without-curses

	make

	sudo make install



### Building from GIT



Users who checked out the source from GitHub must run `./autogen.sh`

first to create the configure script.  This requires GNU autotools to be

installed on the build system.



There are several options to the configure script to disable features,

e.g., to reduce the size, or remove features if you want to be on par

with the official Mg.  By default, all below features are enabled:



    ./configure --help

    [..]

    --disable-autoexec   Disable auto-execute support

    --disable-cmode      Disable C-mode support

    --disable-compile    Disable C compile & grep mode, used by C-mode

    --disable-cscope     Disable Cscope support

    --disable-ctags      Disable ctags(1) support, required by Cscope

    --disable-dired      Disable directory editor

    --disable-notab      Disable notab mode support (not in OpenBSD)

    --disable-regexp     Disable full regexp search

    --disable-togglenl   Disable toggle-newline-prompt extension (not in OpenBSD)

    --disable-all        Disable all optional features

    [..]

    --with-startup=FILE  Init file to run at startup if ~/.mg is missing

    --with-mglog         Enable debugging to log file, default: ./log/*.log

    --without-curses     Build without curses/termcap, default: auto



To build the smallest possible mg, with many features removed:



    ./configure --disable-all --enable-size-optimizations

    make

    sudo make install-strip



To build a completely static mg with all features:



    ./configure LDFLAGS="-static"

    make

    sudo make install-strip



Docker

------



Alpine Linux based Docker container images are available from GitHub:



    docker pull ghcr.io/troglobit/mg:latest



To edit files from your host's `$HOME`, map it to the container's

`/root` and run:



    docker run -ti -v $HOME:/root ghcr.io/troglobit/mg:latest



This supports reading your `~/.mg` and it even takes arguments on the

command line.  Both quick help and the tutorial are bundled.



History

-------



The history is long and intertwined with other MicroEMACS spin-offs but

goes something like this:



* Nov 15, 1985: MicroEMACS v30 released to mod.sources by Dave G. Conroy

* Mar  3, 1987: First Release (mg1a) via comp.sources.unix

* May 26, 1988: Second release: (mg2a) via comp.sources.misc

* Jan 26, 1992: Linux port released by Charles Hedrick. This version

  later makes its way onto tsx-11, Infomagic, and various other Linux

  repositories.

* Feb 25, 2000: First import into the OpenBSD tree, where it is

  currently maintained with contributions from many others.

* May  8, 2016: Import from OpenBSD 5.9 to [GitHub][repo]

* May 15, 2016: Mg v3.0, first port back to Linux, by Joachim Wiberg

* Jul 22, 2018: Mg v3.1, removed libite dependency, by Joachim Wiberg

* Aug 26, 2018: Mg v3.2, now fully portable[^1], by Joachim Wiberg

* Dec 11, 2019: Mg v3.3, misc fixes and new features from OpenBSD

* Aug 23, 2020: Mg v3.4, new modeline, quick-help, support for gzipped

  files, and building without termcap/[Ncurses][], by Joachim Wiberg

* Oct 17, 2021: Mg v3.5, support for Solaris/Illumos based UNIX systems

  tested on OmniOS and OpenIndiana, sync with Mg from OpenBSD 7.0

* Apr 10, 2023: Mg v3.6, sync with OpenBSD, improved ctags support

* Aug 13, 2023: Mg v3.7, sync with OpenBSD, improved usability



See the source distribution for the list of [AUTHORS][].



[^1]: This project has been extensively tested on Debian GNU/Linux,

	Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Alpine Linux, Solaris/Illumos based systems

	like OmniOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, DragonFly BSD, Apple macOS >=

	10.10, Cygwin, MSYS2, as well as a few embedded Linux systems using

	musl libc and uClibc-ng.



Origin & References

-------------------



This project is derived from OpenBSD Mg, which is the best (maintained)

source of the original Micro Emacs based on mg2a. The intention of this

project is to develop *new usability features*, track as many other Mg

clones as possible, and, unlike the upstream OpenBSD version, enable

hidden features using a standard GNU configure script, while remaining

friendly to porting to resource constrained systems.  New features:



* Emacs-like modeline with `(row,col)` and new `display-time-mode`

* Support for building without curses, using termios + escape seq.

* Support for exhuberant/universal ctags `tags` file format

* Built-in `*quick*` help using `C-h q`

* Tutorial accessible using `C-h t`

* Support for Ctrl-cursor + Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn like Emacs

* Support for `M-x no-tab-mode` and `M-x version`

* Support for opening gzipped text files in read-only mode



Merged, and continously tracked, clones:



* http://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/usr.bin/mg/ (upstream)

* https://github.com/hboetes/mg (official portable version)

* https://github.com/ibara/mg (active)

* https://github.com/scott-parker/mg-openbsd (inactive since 2015)

* https://github.com/paaguti/mg3a (continuation of Bengt Larsson's mg3a)

* https://github.com/kisom/kmg (another inactive fork with Go support)

* https://github.com/jasperla/tinyschemg (OpenBSD mg with tinyscheme)



> **Note**: the official [portable Mg][] project, used by Debian and

> other GNU/Linux distributions, is maintained by Han Boetes.  Unlike

> this project, which is stand-alone, Boetes relies on [libbsd][] to

> maintain portability.



Please report any bugs and problems with the packaging and porting to

the GitHub issue tracker 



[Micro Emacs]:     https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/MicroEmacs

[MicroEMACS]:      https://github.com/troglobit/MicroEMACS

[ErsatzEmacs]:     https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ErsatzEmacs

[portable Mg]:     https://github.com/hboetes/mg

[libbsd]:          https://libbsd.freedesktop.org/wiki/

[Ncurses]:         https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/

[repo]:            https://github.com/troglobit/mg

[AUTHORS]:         https://github.com/troglobit/mg/blob/master/doc/AUTHORS

[License]:         https://unlicense.org/

[License Badge]:   https://img.shields.io/badge/License-Unlicense-blue.svg

[GitHub]:          https://github.com/troglobit/mg/actions/workflows/build.yml/

[GitHub Status]:   https://github.com/troglobit/mg/actions/workflows/build.yml/badge.svg

[Coverity Scan]:   https://scan.coverity.com/projects/8859

[Coverity Status]: https://scan.coverity.com/projects/8859/badge.svg