The Emacsen Family: Design, Importance of Lisp, and Alternatives - EmacsConf 2023

Explore the significance of Lisp in Emacs development and the broader Emacsen family in this 18-minute conference talk from EmacsConf 2023. Delve into the reasons behind choosing Emacs Lisp, examine alternative Emacsen implementations, and understand why Common Lisp wasn't adopted. Discover the unique features of Lem, a notable Emacsen implementation, and compare its similarities and differences with GNU Emacs. Conclude with a practical demonstration showcasing the discussed concepts. This talk provides valuable insights for Emacs enthusiasts and those interested in Lisp-based text editors.

Introduction
Why Lisp matters
Why Emacs Lisp was chosen
Other "Emacsen"
Why not Common Lisp?
Common Lisp is still not dead or is always dead
Lem is a nice Emacsen implementation
Why not just use GNU Emacs?
Why Lem
Similarities and differences
Demo