GNU Emacs Text Editor

GNU Emacs is a free and open-source extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor. Originally written by Richard Stallman in 1976 (initially as TECO macros for the MIT ITS system, then as a standalone C program in 1985 as part of the GNU Project), Emacs is one of the oldest and most powerful text editors still in active development, with version 29.4 released in 2024. Key features: Emacs Lisp: the entire editor is built on a Lisp interpreter (Emacs Lisp, a dialect of Maclisp), enabling unlimited extensibility. Users can redefine any function, add new commands, and create entire applications within the editor. This makes Emacs more of a 'Lisp machine' than a simple text editor. Org-mode: a powerful plain-text system for note-taking, task management, project planning, document authoring, and reproducible research (literate programming via org-babel). Org-mode alone has spawned entire workflows and books. Magit: a Git porcelain for Emacs, widely considered the best Git interface in any editor. TRAMP: Transparent Remote Access, Multiple Protocols — edit files on remote machines via SSH, SCP, telnet, or su/sudo as if they were local. Dired: a directory editor for file management (copy, move, rename, delete, search, compress). packages: over 7,000 packages on MELPA (Milkypostman's Emacs Lisp Package Archive) and GNU ELPA, covering languages, frameworks, tools, and games. Modes: major modes for every programming language (Python, Rust, Go, JavaScript, C/C++, Lisp, Haskell, etc.) with syntax highlighting, indentation, and language-specific commands. EXWM: Emacs Window Manager — use Emacs as a full X11/Wayland window manager. Mail reader (Gnus, Rmail, mu4e), web browser (eww), IRC client (ERC), terminal emulator, and more. Cross-platform: Linux, macOS, Windows. GPLv3.