Why does GNU Emacs use ksi(ξ) as its logo?

Question

Why does GNU Emacs use ksi(ξ) as its logo, while most Lisp dialects use lambda(λ) as their logos?

not mean this one:

FYI, if it was ξ then written in English it would be xi, not ksi, which is ѯ. Wikipedia: [xi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_(letter)) [ksi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ksi_(Cyrillic)). — Andrew Morton, Apr 10 '17 at 17:50

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 10 '17 at 13:55

11

It doesn't. It uses just an E that is suggestive of a gnu's horns.

answered Apr 10 '17 at 13:55

Drew

1

I thought the new logo of emacs is a ksi(ξ). I think you mean the Emacs(公牛). My ksi is refer to the GNU Emacs' icon. – cmal Apr 10 '17 at 13:57
1

No. It is the letter `E`, rendered artistically to resemble a [gnu](https://www.google.com/search?q=gnu&oq=gnu&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i65l3j69i60l2.600j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8). – Drew Apr 10 '17 at 13:59
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@cmal: Specifically, it's a *cursive* E, not a print E, hence the curviness. – Antal Spector-Zabusky Apr 10 '17 at 16:13
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See the full story of the creation of the logo here: http://www.ee.ryerson.ca:8080/~elf/emacs/logo/ – Tyler Apr 11 '17 at 01:40
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@Tyler That is the "公牛" logo. What I am curious about is the xi(ξ) or `E` icon. Thank you all the same. – cmal Apr 11 '17 at 07:33
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@cmal The third page of the link describes the addition of the word Emacs to the logo. As Drew points out, there is no connection to the xi icon, it's just an E – Tyler Apr 11 '17 at 11:47
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@Tyler's link appears to be broken, 4 years later. Here's a Wayback Machine link: https://web.archive.org/web/20160101141646/http://www.ee.ryerson.ca:8080/~elf/emacs/logo/ – David C. May 24 '21 at 20:43

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 12 '21 at 14:58

It is the letters "E" and "M" stylized to look like the horns of a Gnu. Any resemblance to the Greek alphabet is coincidental.

Emacs version 22 put this symbol over an icon of a notepad. Later versions put it in a circle, overlaid with a pen.

2 Answers2