Emacs 26.2 Released • Hacker News Board

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#41

Post by bobbylarrybobby » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 6:43 PM UTC

manish_gill wrote: post #33

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #3

I'm really happy to see Emacs move faster, and especially the integration of package management since version 25. The old beast is still kicking! For what it's worth, I've actually been using on macOS the Mituharu branch [1], available in MacPorts as "emacs-mac-app". This version adds the [s]essential[/s] smooth-scrolling feature, and just in general seems to be slightly better integrated into macOS (except that it d…

Emacs is the one environment that I've been a fan of from afar. I recognize the brilliance and power of it, but a few things have always kept me away from using it on the Mac. And I've put in serious attempts, including going emacs-only, then a custom evil mode, then spacemacs - - The server mode compatibility with the way Mac applications are set up. I'd ideally want an emacs server running in the background, and a…

Issue #1 was annoying for me, so I hacked together the following solution: write an emacs function that detects situations where you feel emacs should quit (e.g., no windows left) and have it kill itself and the server when this happens. Then, write a launch agent to poll if the server is running and start it if not (pgrep is cheap enough that you can do this every few seconds). Finally, write an Automator app that will be your launch point for emacs, which receives files and opens them using the server.

It’s an annoying fix but when done right it feels exactly like emacs is a native app.

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#42

Post by zikzak » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 6:44 PM UTC

mrspeaker wrote: post #35

jes wrote: post #8

I have been using GNU Emacs since the late 1980s. It has been my life's editor, so to speak. At 59 1/2, it seems unlikely that I will ever switch to another editor. It's served me well. I am grateful to the hackers that created it.

I only just understood Emacs about a year ago, despite being a nerd for at least 30 years. I like to think I don't have too many regrets in life - but I'm kicking myself for not realizing what Emacs was way back then - or at any of the times I've tried it out in the past (writing it off as "a text editor")! Never too late though, and on the plus side I've now got decades of hidden Emacs goodies still to discover!

I am excited for you but that "journey of discovery" is way, way too addictive for me. I find myself chasing edge case requirements in my config rather than getting work done.

To each thier own, of course!

I still use Emacs when I ssh into my vps and, if I want primarily on Windows doing dev if Visual Studio, would likely use it for everything (as I did back when I was primarily on UNIX systems). Just writing this makes me think "maybe I'll install it on Windows on more time".

The core issue for me is context switching between Emacs and VS. Even with various keybinding tricks it is always awkward.

Best of luck on your journey with Emacs. Do it for me! :)

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#43

Post by pnw_hazor » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 6:54 PM UTC

I had been away from emacs for almost 10 years since I stopped being a pro programmer. And even back then I wasn't really an emacs power-user. I just knew enough to be productive and slightly dangerous.

Recently, I reached my last nerve with MS Word and buckled down to ditch Word for emacs.

Today I do just about all my writing in emacs (markdown) and then generate word docx using pandoc at the end. Now, I use emacs all day everyday -- blessed. And I am more productive especially since I am actively pushing to keep increasing my power-user level.

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#44

Post by kickingvegas » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 6:55 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #12

jes wrote: post #8

I have been using GNU Emacs since the late 1980s. It has been my life's editor, so to speak. At 59 1/2, it seems unlikely that I will ever switch to another editor. It's served me well. I am grateful to the hackers that created it.

I wonder what kind of programs get to follow you for so many decades.

make is for better or worse, forever.

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#45

Post by tgbugs » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 6:55 PM UTC

Skunkleton wrote: post #28

IanS5 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe try easing into it with evil?

I'm not saying this is bad advice, but as a vim expert I have a hard time with emulations messing up my flow. IMO if you want to use emacs it is worth taking the hit and switching to a whole new set of keybindings.

I 'switched' to evil mode about 2ish years ago and ported my entire .vimrc and all its quirks with no problem. There are some rough edges with some other modes not supporting evil by default where hjkl muscle memory can trigger functionality unexpectedly, but that is usually easy to fix. The only other thing you have to watch for is that emacs is overly strick about C-a b vs C-a C-b and this manifests painfully when using C-w l and friends to switch buffers. The easiest fix is just to bind C-w C-l as well so that you don't have to slow down your typing.

I have actually found it hard to go back to vim because emacs has been much easier to customize and many of the features I use routinely are no longer in my vim config.

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#46

Post by anoncake » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 6:56 PM UTC

josteink wrote: post #40

bdarnell wrote: post #27

Here's the NEWS file for the curious: http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/tree/etc/NEWS?h=e...

Thanks. Weird it not being linked directly in the post. “ New variable 'xft-ignore-color-fonts'. Default t means don't try to load color fonts when using Xft, as they often cause crashes. Set it to nil if you really need those fonts.” I see they finally caved in (although in a quite pedantly trying not to way) and allowed use of color-fonts. Whee!

Was the problem not that no free OS supported color fonts properly? Emacs does not belong to the Monochrome Font Foundation, after all. Disabling a feature because it causes crashes is not ideological.

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#47

Post by fredsir » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 7:03 PM UTC

pnw_hazor wrote: post #43

I had been away from emacs for almost 10 years since I stopped being a pro programmer. And even back then I wasn't really an emacs power-user. I just knew enough to be productive and slightly dangerous. Recently, I reached my last nerve with MS Word and buckled down to ditch Word for emacs. Today I do just about all my writing in emacs (markdown) and then generate word docx using pandoc at the end. Now, I use emacs a…

You should check out org: https://orgmode.org/

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#48

Post by bbbobbb » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 7:04 PM UTC

I wish I spent time learning how to use Emacs in the past to a degree where customizing my installation was faster than learning something else.

As I stand now, it seems really hard to justify to invest time into it when the benefits over using something very easy to work with (like JetBrains IDEs for Java or VS Code for Python) sound marginal.

I know experts can fly around in it and it looks amazing. Having a single point of entry for all kinds of things (ssh to VM, git, text editing, org mode, email...) sounds great, but it is so much work and it seems like I could always be spending time doing something immediately beneficial with the tools I already use. Not to mention that the end result might not even better for the given application (can I really hope to have easier time developing a Go app with Emacs and couple not-so-actively developed plugins than GoLand/VS Code?).

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#49

Post by sys_64738 » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 7:08 PM UTC

I've been using Emacs in some form since the Amiga build of uEmacs in 1985.

Re: Emacs 26.2 Released

#50

Post by rusk » Fri, Apr 12, 2019, 7:09 PM UTC

bbbobbb wrote: post #48

I wish I spent time learning how to use Emacs in the past to a degree where customizing my installation was faster than learning something else. As I stand now, it seems really hard to justify to invest time into it when the benefits over using something very easy to work with (like JetBrains IDEs for Java or VS Code for Python) sound marginal. I know experts can fly around in it and it looks amazing. Having a single…

I think you’re best of sticking with Jetbrains IMO; if you’re using a highly structured language like java you may as well get the beenifits of a specialised environment.

For nearly everything else though emacs shines.

I see VS Code touted as an emacs alternative and while your muscle memory might suit it better can it truly give you the uniform fluid experience across pretty much any development enviromnwnt you might use?