Linux.com

Secret messages found in GNU Emacs

When the Emacs program begins, the words "Christianity is Stupid" are displayed in the center of the screen for just a fraction of a second. This anti-religion phrase is then followed up with "Communism is Good" as well as the subversive "Give Up!".

Randomly throughout the day, the program flashes one of these three key phrases onto the computer monitor. It does this so quickly as to be unperceivable to the naked eye, though the phrases are clearly visible with special high speed cameras.

The subversive messages have been found in the "play" folder, normally reserved for games. But it was no joke when computer programmer Chris Grigg began to question his own faith: "I'd always been a follower of Christ, but after a few years of using GNU Emacs, I'd started to wonder if I'd chosen the right path."

Though no formal studies have been conclusive on the issue of subliminal messages, doctor David Wills explains, "While short term studies of subliminal messages have yet to confirm a correlation between the messages and action, it's undeniable that after staring at a computer screen for seventeen hours a day, they [Emacs users] will begin to accept the messages as part of their own internal thought processes."

The admitted perpetrator of this attack on America's democracy is the creator of Emacs itself, Richard Stallman, commonly known on the Internet as "RMS".

"Free Software includes the freedom to express your opinion." retorts Stallman when confronted with the accusation in a press conference Wednesday, "We all know that until people cast aside the trappings of capitalism, there will never be the mass acceptance of Free Software. This is at the heart of the GNU project which I started twenty years ago."

Luckily, not all all Emacs users are as secular as Mr. Stallman. "I've been using Emacs and Linux for years" explains Columbia Law Professor and former Stallman friend Eben Moglen, "but I never thought it would come to this. It makes me question many of the decisions I've made over the years. Say what you will of Bill Gate's products, Microsoft has always promoted family values."