Evil mode vs ErgoEmacs mode, which came first (emacs keybinding history) (2026)

evil mode vs ergoemacs mode

• history of emacs.
• who came first, emacs evil mode vs ergoemacs mode
• https://x.com/i/grok/share/7cea4cfa475d49449f2d5a9e0a64da70

• https://x.com/xah_lee/status/2038510732556533819

Xah's notes

the movement of using an alt emacs keybinding was started by Xah Lee, around 2007, with ergoemacs-mode.

alt exists before ergoemacs, e.g. viper mode, but it was frowned upon in emacs community to not use the default emacs keybinding.

ergoemacs broke that, and later followed up by evil-mode, Xah Fly Keys, and many others.

i want people to know this.