"stay the course" vs. fork? (forking the question thread, ok?)

"stay the course" vs. fork? (forking the question thread, ok?)

I read that the xemacs group wanted to merge back into emacs, within the last year or so. It was my impression that RMS rejected the offer out of hand and perhaps spitefully. Would you happen to know if there is any truth to my, admittedly, superficial impression? I remember too when RMS rejected an xemacs request to use the emacs documentation. That may explain why I have the predisposition to interpret RMS's stances negatively, however, I am aware of my bias and facts can change my opinion.

Several years ago I used xemacs running on a Unix over straight emacs, I think it was in the version 20.x series (21.x was released about that time, but I didn't upgrade). At the same time I was trying not to use Linux too much at home, but there too I thought I preferred xemacs over emacs, though neither worked quite the same as under Unix. I thought the xemacs under Unix was easier than either under linux, however, now I just remember to hit the delete key first when typing into a highlighted region.

Now using Linux all the time, I prefer emacs, where my use of either the Mac or Windows is so minor as to not warrant mention.