8.6 Port the Modus themes to other platforms?

There is no plan to port the themes to other platforms or text editors. I (Protesilaos) only use GNU Emacs and thus cannot maintain code that targets software I am either not familiar with or am not using on a daily basis.

While it is possible to produce a simulacrum based on a given template, doing so would run contrary to how this project is maintained where details matter greatly.

Each program has its own requirements so it won’t always be possible—or indeed desirable—to have 1:1 correspondence between what applies to Emacs and what should be done elsewhere. No port should ever strive to be a faithful copy of the Emacs implementation, as no other program is an Emacs equivalent, but instead try to follow the spirit of the design. For example, some of the customization options accept a list as their value, or an alist, which may not be possible to reproduce on other platforms.

Customization options.

In other words, if something must be done differently on a certain editor then that is acceptable so long as (i) the accessibility standards are not compromised and (ii) the overall character of the themes remains consistent.

The former criterion should be crystal clear as it pertains to the scientific foundations of the themes: high legibility and taking care of the needs of users with red-green color deficiency (deuteranopia) by avoiding red+green color coding paradigms and/or by providing red+blue variants.

The latter criterion is the “je ne sais quoi” of the artistic aspect of the themes, which is partially fleshed out in this manual.

Frequently Asked Questions.

With regard to the artistic aspect (where “art” qua skill may amount to an imprecise science), there is no hard-and-fast rule in effect as it requires one to exercise discretion and make decisions based on context-dependent information or constraints. As is true with most things in life, when in doubt, do not cling on to the letter of the law but try to understand its spirit.

For a trivial example: the curly underline that Emacs draws for spelling errors is thinner than, e.g., what a graphical web browser has, so if I was to design for an editor than has a thicker curly underline I would make the applicable colors less intense to counterbalance the typographic intensity of the added thickness.

With those granted, if anyone is willing to develop a port of the themes, they are welcome to contact me and I will do my best to help them in their efforts.