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'Using Emacs' Series

cestlaz.github.io

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Re: 'Using Emacs' Series

#11

Post by omaranto »

sigjuice wrote: post #5
db48x wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using ~/.emacs.d this way came about well before git was invented. :)

Really? C-h v user-emacs-directory RET says programs in Emacs store information in this directory . To me, this says ~/.emacs.d/ is not intended for humans. user-emacs-directory is a variable defined in ‘subr.el’. Its value is "~/.emacs.d/" This variable may be risky if used as a file-local variable. Documentation: Directory beneath which additional per-user Emacs-specific files are placed. Various programs in Emacs…

Programs and humans can peacefully coexist. Emacs looks for your init.el in that directory so it is most definitely also meant for people to use. I put my own libraries in ~/.emacs.d/my-lisp (and I put this directory on the load path). I've had zero trouble with this setup.

Re: 'Using Emacs' Series

#14

Post by omaranto »

gumby wrote: post #7

I am a little concerned you start with package repository and then org mode. Emacs is at heart a simple, modeless editor. With c-[fbpns] and c-x c-[fa] you can immediately, if laboriously, do anything. Every new thing you learn incrementally speeds you up.

I don't think Emacs has been modeless in many, many years. I read that already in 1978 Emacs buffers could be used to edit files, of course, but also read email, run a shell, show a list of compilation errors linked to source locations, etc. Each of those is a completely different mode of operation with different keybindings (and different meaning for keybindings that happened to be shared).

Re: 'Using Emacs' Series

#15

Post by lottin »

gumby wrote: post #7

I am a little concerned you start with package repository and then org mode. Emacs is at heart a simple, modeless editor. With c-[fbpns] and c-x c-[fa] you can immediately, if laboriously, do anything. Every new thing you learn incrementally speeds you up.

Agreed, although it's also true that vanilla Emacs is quite spartan and has many questionable defaults. In my opinion it would be much better if plain Emacs provided a nicer user experience out of the box, thus reducing the need for customisation and external packages which is a big barrier to entry for new users.

Re: 'Using Emacs' Series

#16

Post by ajsalminen »

omaranto wrote: post #14
gumby wrote: post #7

I am a little concerned you start with package repository and then org mode. Emacs is at heart a simple, modeless editor. With c-[fbpns] and c-x c-[fa] you can immediately, if laboriously, do anything. Every new thing you learn incrementally speeds you up.

I don't think Emacs has been modeless in many, many years. I read that already in 1978 Emacs buffers could be used to edit files, of course, but also read email, run a shell, show a list of compilation errors linked to source locations, etc. Each of those is a completely different mode of operation with different keybindings (and different meaning for keybindings that happened to be shared).

That's true but the text editing part is modeless as opposed to how vi and it's kin do it. Of course even that can be changed and Spacemacs has recently made it a fairly popular choice.

Re: 'Using Emacs' Series

#17

Post by lottin »

duncan_bayne wrote: post #13
mycat wrote: post #12

What is the best way to reduce pain from using ctrl with pinky finger? (emacs pinky?)

In my experience - buy a good mechanical keyboard, and remap Control and Caps Lock.

I don't understand how remapping Caps Lock to Control is supposed to improve things, considering that there's already a Control key in the vicinity of Caps Lock. For me the bigger problem is the right control key.

Re: 'Using Emacs' Series

#18

Post by TeMPOraL »

lottin wrote: post #17
duncan_bayne wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience - buy a good mechanical keyboard, and remap Control and Caps Lock.

I don't understand how remapping Caps Lock to Control is supposed to improve things, considering that there's already a Control key in the vicinity of Caps Lock. For me the bigger problem is the right control key.

Try it and you'll see. Control is usually two keys lower than Caps Lock, forcing you to bend your pinky in a weird way.

As for Right Control - I don't think I ever pressed that key in my life...

Re: 'Using Emacs' Series

#19

Post by db48x »

sigjuice wrote: post #5
db48x wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using ~/.emacs.d this way came about well before git was invented. :)

Really? C-h v user-emacs-directory RET says programs in Emacs store information in this directory . To me, this says ~/.emacs.d/ is not intended for humans. user-emacs-directory is a variable defined in ‘subr.el’. Its value is "~/.emacs.d/" This variable may be risky if used as a file-local variable. Documentation: Directory beneath which additional per-user Emacs-specific files are placed. Various programs in Emacs…

It happened in 2002, and git was started in 2005. See commit a04d5983:

    commit a04d59830e46664faa4d534366a6b07e3b7c12f2
    Author: Richard M. Stallman 
    Date:   Sat Oct 26 22:41:33 2002 +0000
        (command-line): Look for .emacs under ~/.emacs.d after looking in ~.
Interestingly it was changed to look for ~/.emacs.d/init.el in 2005, six months after git got started.

See also chapter 51.4 of the Emacs manual (which is often preferred over the documentation of variables simply because it can be more explanatory):

    51.4 The Emacs Initialization File
    ==================================
    
    When Emacs is started, it normally tries to load a Lisp program from an
    “initialization file”, or “init file” for short.  This file, if it
    exists, specifies how to initialize Emacs for you.  Emacs looks for your
    init file using the filenames ‘~/.emacs’, ‘~/.emacs.el’, or
    ‘~/.emacs.d/init.el’; you can choose to use any one of these three names
    (*note Find Init::).  Here, ‘~/’ stands for your home directory.
So yes, it's long been used for things like the list of recently opened files, and configuration changes you made with Custom, and the UIDVALIDITY of your IMAP folders and so on, but it's also been a place to put your init file for quite a long time as well. Once you get a longish init.el file, it's a pretty short step to making several .el files that you load from init.el, and from there you can get as fancy as you like.

Re: 'Using Emacs' Series

#20

Post by krylon »

mycat wrote: post #12

What is the best way to reduce pain from using ctrl with pinky finger? (emacs pinky?)

I used to think "emacs pinky" was a joke, until I got my first programming job and I suddenly used emacs eight hours a day. :-|

Then I read somewhere that the Ctrl key used to be at the location now occupied by Caps Lock on PC keyboards. So now, on every computer I use regularly, I remap Caps Lock to be an additional Ctrl key. My pinky has thanked me for it ever since. ;-)

Also, I cannot remember having used Caps Lock ever, except by accident.

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