path: root/2021/captions/emacsconf-2021-eaf--emacs-application-framework-a-2021-update--matthew-zeng--main.vtt

WEBVTT

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Hi, my name is Matthew Zeng, 

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aka MT or Mingde.

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Welcome to EmacsConf2021.

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I hope everyone is enjoying

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the conference so far.

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I am one of the maintainers

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of the Emacs Application Framework.

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I was also here last year during EmacsConf2020

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and did a 20 minute presentation

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on the overall architecture of EAF

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as well as a small demo.

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A lot of things had changed since 2020,

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and that's why today I'm here to present:

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Emacs Application Framework, A 2021 Update.

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So we all know Emacs,

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and we definitely know that

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Emacs is not just a text editor,

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but a text-centric work environment,

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and it lacks *efficient*

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multimedia rendering capabilities

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such as website, PDF, and video rendering.

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We all want that, right?

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Therefore the EAF project wants to

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solve this problem while also

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retaining the rich Emacs ecosystem

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and its customizability and extensibility.

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The solution is to outsource the hard part

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to Python and NodeJS

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by bridging Elisp with them

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so that Python and JavaScript

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can do the hard work

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and minimize the Elisp workload,

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which ultimately speeds up

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our end-user experience using Emacs.

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Do note that Python and JavaScript

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already have a very mature ecosystem

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that provides a foundation

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to modern multimedia applications,

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so basically, EAF enables Emacs to extend

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to Python and JavaScript ecosystems,

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therefore extending to

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modern multimedia apps too.

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As we're on a tight schedule today,

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I can't go into every detail

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about how EAF achieves this.

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I did go through a lot of things

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during last year's presentation,

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so I highly recommend anyone interested

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to check out that presentation,

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and the project repository itself.

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Today we're focusing on *what changed*.

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Now the first change

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that you'll definitely notice

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is that we have a new logo!

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This logo uses gearwheels

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to symbolize how EAF extends Emacs

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to web and multimedia applications

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that bring new possibilities to Emacs.

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Since last year, EAF has replaced

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the DBus communication technology

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with the cross-platform EPC,

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the Emacs RPC stack,

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which has an Elisp implementation

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and a Python implementation,

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exactly what we need.

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This and some other changes

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enable EAF to support Windows, 

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Windows 10 and Windows Subsystem for Linux,

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as well as all distros that support 

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pacman, apt, dnf, pkg, 

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zypper package installer commands,

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which includes Arch-based, Debian, 

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or Ubuntu-based, Fedora, etc.

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However, do note that the maOS support

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works with some known issues. 

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Have a look if you want to try out.

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Previously, EAF was able to make Elisp

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communicate with Python, as well as

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Python to communicate with JavaScript,

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meaning that Elisp can call 

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Python functions and vice versa, 

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and Python can call JavaScript functions

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and vice versa, but if you want Elisp

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to communicate with JavaScript,

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you have to go through Python,

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which is rather troublesome.

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Now, thanks to the EPC, 

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Elisp can communicate 

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with JavaScript directly

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using =eval_js= function 

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and =eval_emacs_function= 

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in Elisp and Python respectively.

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This greatly simplifies the code 

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that will be needed 

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to write a web app in EAF.

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Speaking of web applications, 

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VueJS is a web framework 

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that's been gaining a lot of popularity 

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in recent years 

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for its simplicity and functionality.

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In the past, you were only able to write

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simple JavaScript and HTML web apps 

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for EAF. It was quite some work

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to create a full-featured web application.

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Now you can write new apps using EAF

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that work seamlessly with Emacs and Elisp.

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There are a few existing EAF apps

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written with Vue already

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to demonstrate the possibilities

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of Vue-based extensions in Emacs.

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The first one is the EAF File Manager,

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written by ManateeLazycat himself, 

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as an alternative option to dired, 

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as he found dired's performance 

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to lag considerably

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when there are way too many files.

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It supports wdired and fd functionality, 

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and let me demonstrate that to you.

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See? And this is the app.

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Go back here.

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Another one is the EAF RSS Reader,

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written by our Summer of Code 2021 student

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ShaoChenHeng. It is a fast RSS reader

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that uses the EAF browser for previews,

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and let me demo that to you as well.

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Pragmatic Emacs.

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And you can view every site 

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in the EAF Browser.

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To ease the process 

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of creating a new EAF application,

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we've separated the EAF core and its apps,

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so that EAF apps now have 

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their individual repositories. 

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You can find them under 

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the emacs-eaf GitHub organization.

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Because of the number of EAF apps

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and their dependencies

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that vary from system to system,

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we've also introduced a new 

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=M-x eaf-install-and-update= command

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which is a wrapper around the new

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install-eaf python script

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dedicated to installing, updating, 

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and maintaining EAF apps 

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and their dependencies 

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for the end user.

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Now it is very easy

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to create a new EAF app. 

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You just need to do it. 

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You can just do it in your own repository,

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such as in GitHub, GitLab, or wherever.

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The first thing to do is 

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to fork the eaf-demo or the eaf-vue-demo

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as a starting template, 

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then update the dependencies.json file

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to list the new dependencies you introduced

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on various systems.

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Afterwards, once your app is finished, 

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you simply need to submit a PR 

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to the EAF core

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that modifies the applications.json list

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to include your new app. And that's it.

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Come try it out and write your own 

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EAF extensions today!

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There are many other new updates. 

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To list a few: we reached 

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more than 60 contributors, hooray!

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And also, you can now use the familiar

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Control s and Control r isearch 

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for real-time search, 

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functioning very similar 

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to the Emacs isearch,

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in the EAF Browser, PDF Viewer, 

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and many other applications.

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Additionally, you can also create 

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EAF PDF annotations

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either inline or as a pop-up, etc. etc. etc.

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Finally, let's talk about Popweb.

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Popweb is a very, very new project

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that started like exactly two weeks ago,

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that focuses particularly on the

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multimedia pop-up functionality in Emacs. 

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Pop is considered to be a sister project

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and lightweight version of EAF.

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They both share a very similar design

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and some code, and they are maintained 

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by the same people, 

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which is me and ManateeLazycat.

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Here's a quick demo to see the

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responsiveness of its preview.

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Here we go. On the right, see... 

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Oh, here we go. Yes.

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And these are the LaTeX preview. 

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I can quickly show the next one.

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So this is the end of my presentation.

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Feel free to post questions 

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on the collaborative pad, IRC, 

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or directly send me an email. 

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I'll be around all this, 

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at all these places,

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and if you found any issue, 

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please submit an issue 

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to the EAF official issues,

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and don't forget to check out the wiki.

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Thank you and enjoy 

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the rest of EmacsConf 2021.

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[captions by sachac]