Install Emacs

Debian packages are provided in separate sections¹, and emacs is available in the main section. However, this package lacks all the built-in documentation, which is somehow provided in the non-free section through package emacs-common-non-dfsg. Without documentation, the claim of "self-documenting editor" doesn't stand, so a bit tweak is needed.

1. Open /etc/apt/sources.list and add "non-free" section after "main"
2. Run "apt-get update", as usual
3. Run "apt-get install emacs emacs-common-non-dfsg"

The GNU site already provides instructions to install pre-built binaries of Emacs on macOS ^{2, 3}. Follow any one would be sufficient.

However, things became tricker when I tried to compile from source.

First, install libraries required, in reverse order:

• gnutls
• nettle
• gmp
• libtasn1
• help2man

The process was straightforward when I compiled these libraries from source one by one, …until gnutls-3.7.11, which is the current stable version provided on the official site⁴. When compiling from the source file downloaded, there was error thrown for file lib/system/certs.c. Turns out there is a one line change needed in the declaration of osstatus_error, like this:

static int osstatus_error(OSStatus status)

This problem was resolved long time ago in the master branch⁵. So it's not like a big issue anymore. Nevertheless, the experience worths a note.

Key Takeways

• When there is error thrown while compiling source code from renowned resource, take a closer look at the error message. No need to get panic, upset, or scared.
• If a solution is found for the error, consider to submit a patch to the source repo in order to give something back to the community.