Definition of software bloat - see "Emacs" (veering off-topic) [LWN.net]

Definition of software bloat - see "Emacs" (veering off-topic)

Posted Feb 25, 2008 9:37 UTC (Mon) by pdewacht (subscriber, #47633)
In reply to: Definition of software bloat - see "Emacs" (veering off-topic) by pr1268
Parent article: Emacs news: new maintainer, version 22 pretest

Emacs has the limit that file positions need to fit in an elisp integer. The elisp tagging
scheme requires 4 bits for integers, so on 32-bit systems you're limited to 28 bit ==> 256mb
files. The limit was even lower before Emacs 22 :(

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Definition of software bloat - see "Emacs" (veering off-topic)

Posted Feb 25, 2008 14:05 UTC (Mon) by andikleen (guest, #39006) [Link]

You could actually get 256MB files even before 22, you just
had to patch the source.

But the obvious solution: use a 64bit system. 32bit is so 90ies...

Ok emacs gets a fatter because all words are 64bit now
instead of 32bit, but on the other hand it is still really rank'n'lean
now compared to several other popular programs that edit text.