Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition 334
| Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition | |
| author | Debra Cameron, James Elliott, Marc Loy, Eric Raymond & Bill Rosenblatt |
| pages | 534 |
| publisher | O'Reilly Publishing |
| rating | 9 |
| reviewer | Barry Hawkins |
| ISBN | 0596006489 |
| summary | An intelligent, graded treatment of the landscape of useful Emacs skills and how to internalize them |
For a programmer, it is reasonable to question whether or not a word processor or graphical IDE is the right tool to edit a simple script or properties file. IDEs like Eclipse have become universals hammers, and to some of their users, any file containing text looks like a nail. Specific tasks are rarely handled well by universal tools, and text editing is no exception. Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt, authors of The Pragmatic Programmer and founders of the Pragmatic Bookshelf series, recommend that programmers adopt a text editor as an essential utility in their collection of appropriately-suited tools. The tried-and-true text editor is enjoying a renaissance of sorts, and one of the most extensible and customizable applications among text editors is the venerable GNU Emacs.
Tutorials and documentation for Emacs are abundant, but they often prove time-consuming and ineffective for actually learning Emacs. The printed version of the official GNU Emacs manual reads more like an application programming interface (API) document than an instructional guide. This book is a refreshing break from the documentation many have come to expect. Imagine having a group of leading experts on Emacs at your disposal to teach you how to use it in a conversational, consultative style. That is what has been bundled into this book.
The extensibility of Emacs is considered both a key strength and a confusing weakness of the application. The Emacs community has created all sorts of additional capabilities for Emacs, ranging from the impressive to the absurd. The authors have done well to judiciously select which Emacs capabilities to cover. For example, while Emacs does have the capability to function as an email client, other applications have long superseded its ability. The authors have chosen not to cover this topic, and instead devote the available space to learning Emacs' core functionality -- powerful, efficient text editing.
This edition of the book uses the space gained by the removal of esoteric topics to flesh out areas of more common interest. Peripheral areas of Emacs, such as compatibility modes for programming languages (other than Java and Perl), have been left for the user to research after gaining a solid foundation on Emacs as editor and work environment. Integration with the major version control systems has been expanded to include Subversion alongside the age-old standards CVS, RCS, and SCCS. Coverage of support for Java and Perl has also improved, as well as sections for editing HTML and XML. Users wanting to tap into the power of Lisp programming for Emacs should find the coverage satisfying as well.
The pace of the material is comfortable, and the order in which topics are introduced allows the user to progress smoothly through the book. Users with some experience can skip past the first three chapters, but would be advised to read through them, particularly those who are self-taught (which applies to most Emacs users). Given the amount of time the average user spends in Emacs, picking up one or two time-saving shortcuts would be well worth an investment of a few hours. Instructions are given in a way that reflects the fact that there are multiple ways to achieve the same outcome; the authors do not attempt to foist "the only way" to accomplish something upon the reader. Some readers will find that bothersome, desiring instead a simple, straightforward heuristic for performing a task. However, the typical users of Emacs tend to be people who embrace the fact that the world is not a simple, straightforward abstraction. The book reflects the authors' awareness of this nuance.
Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of this book is the chapter devoted to the use of Emacs on different platforms. Unix, Windows and Mac OS X users receive equal acknowledgment. The precautions and insights regarding subtle differences in Emacs when used on particular platforms can reduce users' frustration when getting started.
The mnemonic devices and conventions used in the book allow users to
commit useful keyboard commands to memory. The memorization is further
solidified by the exercises sprinkled appropriately through each
chapter. Readers do not go for very many pages before it is time to be
at the keyboard again, harnessing the power of muscle memory to
reinforce the material presented. Those who spend any time at a shell
prompt or in console applications will find that their new mastery of
Emacs keyboard shortcuts translates into increased proficiency with
command-line operations as well.
You can purchase Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
VI can't we have this thread without someone... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:VI can't we have this thread without someone... (Score:2, Funny)
vi is for people who can't hunt-and-peck (I should know)
Re:VI can't we have this thread without someone... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:VI can't we have this thread without someone... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:teco? (Score:3, Informative)
Short answer, yes it does.
Re:VI can't we have this thread without someone... (Score:2, Funny)
Now if you managed to say what you did with a LISP, I think moderators would give you a few bonus karma points for that vocabulary VIctory.
Re:VI can't we have this thread without someone... (Score:5, Funny)
The only 3 commands any Emacs user needs to know:
Ctrl-x
Ctrl-c
vi
Let the flame wars begin!
(for the record, I use both Emacs and vi...)
Re:VI can't we have this thread without someone... (Score:5, Funny)
We need a mod option '+1, poor bastard'
Re:VI can't we have this thread without someone... (Score:2)
Re:VI can't we have this thread without someone... (Score:2)
I much prefer vi. I don't ever recall having to twist my fingers into knots trying to ctrl-right_shift-something, though being a Windows user ctrl-alt-delete is easy enough.
And vi uses nice easy to remember commands like cw to change word, r to replace a character, dd to delete a line, etc.
So for my money I'd choose vi. I suppose if I knew emacs better I'd vote it equal but that is not the case at this juncture in m
Buy vi? (Score:3, Funny)
Come on, do it right (Score:3, Funny)
It's like this:
Vi, vi vould I vant to learn emacs????
I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:3, Funny)
It seems you have misspelt 'VI Rules!'
status quo extensively (Score:2)
Re:status quo extensively (Score:2)
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:4, Informative)
Vi wasn't easy to learn either -- but while unintuitive, it is all logical and most of the keybindings have obvious mnemonics.
I decided to give up on Emacs, and to be honest I've never been given a reason to regret it.
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:5, Insightful)
Then I discovered VIPER mode and the way became clear. I'd taught myself vi a few years earlier while going to school, forcing myself to write my CS homework assignments using it on a Linux box.
Perhaps Emacs is really no more difficult to learn than vi, but it set up a sort of cognitive dissonance in me that I could not overcome. Of course vi can be difficult and cryptic with it single letter keystrokes and love affair with the escape key, but it simply seems so much smaller than emacs, with just that little blank window and blinking cursor.
Emacs on the otherhand just looks so feature rich with all its cascading menus and multiple modes and such that I felt intimidated only learning the basic editing commands. It made me feel stupid, and try as I might, it did not appear to get any more accessible with use.
VIPER is just the ticket for me. All the run-of-the-mill editing is there at the tips of my fingers with familiar commands, and the deeper emacs stuff is still available if and when I care to use it.
Honestly, I think the default key-bindings of Emacs are its greatest impediment to common use. Perhaps every copy of this book (I own the 2nd. edition as well as the manual and references from GNU) should come with a vi quick ref just for good measure.
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:2)
HierarKeys? (Score:2)
It seems as though HierarKeys disappeared. I know that once I was faced with the normal Emacs key bindings, I quickly switched to vi.
Vi more logical than emacs? Good one! (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, because typing L to go right, K to go up, J for down and H for left is so much more logical than ^F for forward, ^B for backward, ^N for the next line and ^P for the previous line! (I realize non-English speakers will be hosed either way.) Or that a linefeed character has a special status in vi, so you can't just delete it, you have to "join" the lines it separates. Or having to switch constantly between "navigating" and "ins
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:3, Insightful)
Because intuition and logic aren't the same thing. For a simple example take the birthday paradox (which isn't a paradox, but I didn't name it so don't blame me). It is completely unintuitive that a random set of 23 people has a greater than 50% chance of containing at two people who share a birthday. However, a straightforward proof shows that this is indeed the case.
Another logical, yet unintuitive thing is that the cardinality of the
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:5, Informative)
Automation of repetitive task can go way beyond recorded key strokes once you get a grip on Emacs lisp. This tool has saved me years of work over the time that I've used it.
The best way to learn Emacs is to just use it. Having this book will help you. I have the first edition now collecting dust on a shelf at home. The help, actually info, is very helpful. There's an interactive tutorial that comes with it, etc.
My favorite editor, though, must be sed.
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:5, Informative)
Start with the most basic navigation commands. Learn to use "Ctrl-H, A" and type words in to learn about other commands you may need (e.g. "Ctrl-H, A, page" yields backward-page, forward-page, etc.)
The most useful thing I've ever done for my productivity, when it comes to Emacs, is to add the following line to my ~/.emacs file: So, when I type Ctrl-Z, it doesn't drop me into the shell (very annoying), but instead executes the last macro. Creating a macro is so easy and executing a gazillion iterations of a macro is now that much easier.
I've tried to switch to IDEs, to Kate (very, very nice), Quanta+ and others. But the power of the easy, fast macro keeps me coming back to Emacs, every time.
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:4, Insightful)
Except that for plenty of us, Ctrl-Z is already mapped in our heads to "Undo." So while we're stabbing at Ctrl-Z to undo what we just did, Emacs will helpfully be doing it again.
(Sorry - I'm sure it works well for you, but for someone just learning Emacs, it might not be the best idea.
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:2)
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:3, Informative)
(Meta or alt key plus x, then type viper-mode when prompterd). Now you have VI keybindings.
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:2)
simply running an actual vi clone like vim?
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:2)
If all you need to do is edit a file and get out, there may be no need to run emacs, but it has a lot of extra self either built-in or easily added, like a pretty good directory listing mode, source code control integration, a great mode for viewing man pages, a pretty good shell mode, a mode for editing rectangular areas of documents, etc.
Vim might have all that now, for all I know. Actually, I think I look at Vim now th
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:2)
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:2)
That's not really something vi's any better at--would you have guessed that :q quits?
Well, a lot of that is simply the fact that you're used to vi. I used to be like you--vi rox, emacs sux. But I kept on seeing so many folks usin
Re:Exiting isn't that bad (Score:2)
Well, the whole point is if you don't remember it, it is way hard! :-)
I would be willing to bet out of a thousand people on the street if they were asked to provide 10 guesses how to exit emacs, and they had never used it before, NONE of the 10 guesses from the thousand people would be CTL-X CTL-C. There's just nothing mnenomic about it. So, when you get the brain fart, it's a nightmare! (And I even KNEW it was
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:2)
However, this may have been ingrained at an early age -- In 1986 I started playing a PC port of Hack, which used... wait for it... VI h-j-k-l movement keys. It wasn't until a few years after switching to VI and picking up Ha
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:2)
move diagonally in vim.
Re:I've tried to learn emacs to no avail (Score:3, Informative)
Having said that, if you're still interested in learning Emacs, the best way to do it is cold turkey. You start using Emacs for your daily text-editing activities. All of them. Make yourself a cheat sheet, and stick it on the side of your monitor for easy reference.
Just try to get the basics at f
Oh my god! (Score:3, Funny)
I haven't been this excited since Slashdot's review of "Learning GNU Emacs, 2nd Edition".
Reviewed 9 months after publication! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Reviewed 9 months after publication! (Score:2)
vi = 1 second
emacs = 2.5 seconds
gedit = 5 seconds
kedit = 7 seconds
Those were for starting the first of each program. Additional ones were faster, _especially_ kedit, which got screwed by me not running kde by default.
Re:Reviewed 9 months after publication! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Reviewed 9 months after publication! (Score:2)
Re:Reviewed 9 months after publication! (Score:3, Funny)
Faster starting (Score:3, Interesting)
Could people actualy be RTFA? (Score:3, Insightful)
What I'd like to find and or write is a good PHP/HTML mode for emacs, or even a CPAN/CTAN clone for emacs modes and scripts.
Re:Could people actualy be RTFA? (Score:2)
You might want to check this out: http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/HtmlModeDelu xe [emacswiki.org]
Also, I've got a somewhat extensive file of html advice that loads whenever SGML mode runs in HTML mode. It provides advice functions for the HTML mode commands so that things work the way that I want. I'm lazy and don't like a lot of typing, so I have the advice scan the text and insert stuff where
GNU Emacs Manual Is Excellent (Score:5, Informative)
Emacs also comes with a built-in tutorial that is a good interactive introduction to Emacs.
If you are considering learning Emacs, yes, it can seem like an intimidating task. The interface and commands are nothing like what people are used to today. But it is certainly worth the effort learning Emacs and getting used to it.
Re:GNU Emacs Manual Is Excellent (Score:5, Informative)
It not only comes with a tutorial, the editor itself is completly self-documenting.
Don't know what a key combo means: 'C-h k' then enter the combo
Don't know what a function means: 'C-h f' then the function name
Don't know whats available: 'C-h a' to search through all commands
Wanna know what other commands are hiding behind 'C-x
All the stuff you get as results is hyperlinked and Emacs even allows you to let you click through all that docu down the the actual line of source that performs the function. This self-documentation is something that I miss in almost every other app that is around these days and shows that Emacs, for all its problems, is still quite a few years ahead in some areas bejoint other 'state of the art' applications that people use these days.
Re:GNU Emacs Manual Is Excellent (Score:2)
PS: I'm a vi user.
A lot of words (Score:3, Interesting)
Do the authors discuss the relative benefits and drawbacks of each method? Do they discuss when it is and isn't appropriate for each? More info on this would be helpful.
"Readers do not go for very many pages before it is time to be at the keyboard again, harnessing the power of muscle memory to reinforce the material presented."
This is not muscle memory. This can be called learning through use. If the reader were to repeat the intended action 5,000 times, then maybe it could be called muscle memory.
My impression from the review is that the book will:
Give me the basics of Emacs use, and how they differ sometimes on different platforms;
Give me mnemonics to memorize keyboard shortcuts;
Show me multiple ways of doing some things;
Show me how to use basic Emacs with different languages, in some common situations.
So, my understanding from reading the review is that this is an fairly thorough introduction to Emac use that is easy to understand and doesn't bother with extraneous material.
Am I off base here?
Re:A lot of words (Score:2)
Am I off base here?
While true that the review lacked a conclusion, what you said is clear
from the intro: "They need a book that offers expert advice without wasting time or insulting the intelligence of the reader: Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition is that book."
and the summary: An intelligent, graded treatment of the landsc
IDE vs Emacs vs Jove all have their place (Score:4, Informative)
However, when I just need to do some basic config file editing I use Jove which is a scaled down version of Emacs that has the same keys as Emacs but loads as quickly as vi.
Emacs works great though when I have to interact in a complex way with the shell. For instance, I find it very useful when used in conjunction with command line SQL clients for Postgres, Mysql, or Oracle. The history and multiple command buffers are great for working with these command line clients. When I work with Oracle DBAs they are often impressed with how powerfully I can use SQLPlus from inside of Emacs.
Re:IDE vs Emacs vs Jove all have their place (Score:2)
Re:IDE vs Emacs vs Jove all have their place (Score:2)
I used to be a huge Emacs user and had all manner of interesting custom macros and functions written specialised for some of the things I did. In practice though the full scale IDEs have plowed ahead while Emacs is still wed to its way of doing things. Eclipse simply offers more features and a
Re:IDE vs Emacs vs Jove all have their place (Score:2, Insightful)
So can vim, and it does it better. About the only thing Eclipse can do that vim can't (as far as i know) is context help (like hover over a function and get an annoying pop-up as to what it does), an annoying and useless "feature" for someone like me who's been programming enough years to know what most of the functions are by now, and by the time Eclipse's help finally stops causin
Re:IDE vs Emacs vs Jove all have their place (Score:2)
Refcards.com (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Refcards.com (Score:2)
You win the internet. Parent post is an example of an instant (5, Informative).
Tim O'Reilly on vi or emacs (Score:5, Informative)
Proceeds go to F/OSS projects (Score:2)
The problem with Emacs... (Score:3, Funny)
Hefty tome (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Hefty tome (spoiler) (Score:3, Funny)
emacs is awesome... (Score:3, Insightful)
I used to use Emacs for development, vi for sysadmin, but once I discovered Vim, I've started using Emacs less and less for dev, except when hacking Lisp (using SLIME.. you just can't do Lisp effectively without an editor at least as powerful as Emacs).
I can really appreciate Emacs, and I love Lisp (being able to code some quick Lisp right in the middle of an email reply is pretty damn cool for instance), but I just don't *need* that kind of flexibility. And the lack of consistency with Meta keys is frustrating (on my Mac, Carbon Emacs uses command, the terminal uses option, but on other machines I have to fall back on Esc).
I noticed the new Emacs has a built-in spreadsheet, by the way (M-x ses-mode). It's actually pretty cool (the cells are Lisp expressions, and the code is checked for dangerous operations before being excecuted). It's also a sign that maybe Emacs is a little TOO flexible???
Anyway, I'm not sure the point of this post, except that everybody should at least give Emacs a try.
Try Aquamacs Emacs on Mac OS X (Score:3, Informative)
Aquamacs [aquamacs.org] (Carbon Emacs with settings to make it more Mac-like) cleans up a lot of that stuff. If you map meta to option, you can even use standard Mac keystrokes (command-S -> C-X C-S, command-Q -> C-X C-C, etc.). And SLIME works well under it - Aquamacs + Lisp-in-a-box [gigamonkeys.com] without Emacs worked for me right out of the box (so to spea
Re:Try Aquamacs Emacs on Mac OS X (Score:2, Interesting)
here's an ancient joke (Score:3, Funny)
Stallman: "Do you know who I am ? I made EMACS!!"
Dude: "I don't care. I use vi."
Nothing to see here. Move along (Score:2)
EMACS for Development (Score:5, Insightful)
Granted, most of the other editors do this, too. I've been using 'vi' variants for over 20 years, and have currently settled on VIM. Most of them have built-in help for parsing build output, but it just seems so much clunkier than when I watch an EMACS user do it.
What I'd really like is a book or HOWTO that's focused on effective software development using EMACS. The general-purpose "learning" books just don't get into that kind of narrow depth.
Schwab
Re:EMACS for Development (Score:3, Informative)
Emacs doesn't do email well...what?!? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll have the reviewer know that I use gnus for my email and news reading, and it's perfect for the task. I've still yet to find a program which has as many features, and yet to find one which is accessible over a command-line as well as through a GUI.
Re:Emacs doesn't do email well...what?!? (Score:2)
Yeah, there are things I still miss, but most of the features that kept me on Gnus for years are the ones that I realized I hated given up in concept more than in reality.
emacs's ultimate power.. the shell (Score:5, Informative)
Its better than xterm -sl XYZ (set scroll lines to XYZ)
shells vs emacs (Score:2, Informative)
Then most shells (and every program using the readline library) support the Ctrl-R function to search through command history, just like emacs.
For searching through command outputs there are terminal emulators like konsole that provide such functions...
Check man readline you'll be surprised how much of emacs functionality you have in your daily shell!
Emacs solved (Score:3, Funny)
get shovel, look shovel, e, e, dig, look, get cpu, look cpu, se, get
food, se, look bear, drop food, look, get key, sw, get bracelet, ne, nw,
nw, ne, ne, ne, e, look bins, w, w, put cpu in computer, type, toukmond,
robert, ls, uncompress paper.o.Z, exit, look paper, type, ftp gamma,
anonymous, toukmond, binary, send lamp.o, send shovel.o, send key.o, send
bracelet.o, send paper.o, quit, rlogin gamma, worms, get lamp, get
shovel, get key, get bracelet, get paper, e, n, e, drop shovel, drop key,
drop bracelet, drop paper, get weight, d, drop weight, nw, u, get
statuette, look statuette, get floppy, se, d, nw, ne, drop floppy, w, s,
e, turn dial clockwise, turn dial clockwise, turn dial clockwise, turn
dial counterclockwise, turn dial counterclockwise, turn dial
counterclockwise, w, n, e, get life, get shovel, get key, get bracelet,
get paper, get floppy, d, nw, u, se, d, nw, nw, s, s, s, s, put diamond
in chute, put bracelet in chute, s, get gold, e, e, s, d, look urinal,
put gold in urinal, flush, n, sleep, d, sw, e, u, dig, look, get
platinum, d, w, ne, u, s, put platinum in urinal, flush, n, d, sw, w, d,
e, get towel, look towel, d, s, s, s, look pc, put floppy in pc, reset, ,
dir, type foo.txt => xxx (combination), exit, n, n, n, n, n, u, look box,
put key in box, u, u, ne, ne, get axe, d, n, w, xxx (combination), cut
cable, exit, get key, e, n, get lamp, get license, get silver, w, put
silver in mail, n, n, e, e, e, e, e, get coins, get egg (in rooms 60 to
78), w, w, w, w, w, s, s, put egg in mail, put coins in mail, n, n, n, n,
e, e, e, e, e, look bus, in, s, s, s, w, w, w, w, w, nw, out, n, get
bone, e, e, get nitric, press switch, n, get glycerine, w, look bone, get
jar, get ruby, s, w, s, in, se, out, e, e, e, e, n, n, put nitric in jar,
put glycerine in jar, drop jar, in, n, n, put ruby in disposal, d, get
amethyst, u, put amethyst in disposal, d, ne, sw, u, u, w, w, s, w, s,
se, s, e, s, w, type, rlogin endgame, drop license, drop bone, drop key,
get diamond, get gold, get platinum, get amethyst, n, n, n, n, get bill,
n, get mona, s, drop bill, drop mona, drop diamond, drop gold, drop
platinum, drop amethyst, s, s, s, s, get silver, get egg, get coins, get
ruby, get bracelet, n, n, n, n, n, drop silver, drop egg, drop coins,
drop ruby, drop bracelet, n, quit,
I'm afraid I can't help you with Emacs Tetris.
The king of editors (Score:2, Interesting)
Then a boss introduced me to slickedit.
It is EXPENSIVE, but it is worth every penny.
Imagine the power of emacs, more power, and an elegant, easy interface.
No offense to anyone, just my two cents worth.
Steve
Fools! (Score:2)
Emacs: fix you undo/redo stack (Score:2)
whoops, where is half my document gone? what button did I push?
I know, why don't I royally arse my document up by using undo/redo snaking biting its own tail HACK of an undo system.
Unable to work out how to do a real undo, they hacked it 100% using basic hackery of adding and removing key codes to a stack.
This means that when you undo, you are ADDING to your history.
T
Different Tools for Different Tasks (Score:2)
So is Emacs any less general than Eclipse? (Score:2)
And this differs from Emacs how?
Are they saying that GNU emacs (which has at least two mail clients, a news reader, an IRC client, debugger, shell-buffer and terminal emulator, Towers of Hanoi and goodness knows what else) is too universal to do one thing and do it well?
Real programmers don't eat quiche (Score:2)
#include
int main () {
}
M-$ (Score:2)
For a summary of the book (Score:2)
Times change (Score:2)
Fat lady or crazy sister? (try MicroEmacs) (Score:2)
You run GNU Emacs you're getting the fat lady, use vi and you've got her crazy sister.
MicroEmacs loads as quickly as vi and it is very powerful. I've tried others, but I keep coming back to what has always worked the best.
Not to troll or anything (Score:2)
Please, please tell me (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Bah (Score:2)
Re:Bah (Score:2)
Meh.. I've been a vim user (junkie) for the last 7 years or so.. and I've always used
-Laxiive
Re:Hand hurts after using Emacs all day (Score:2, Informative)
Think of this as a sixth finger for your hand. The shape of your hand was intelligently designed to use Emacs that way.
Re:Hand hurts after using Emacs all day (Score:3, Interesting)
The Sun layout with respect to that is, IMO, vastly superior to the PC layout even w/o the Emacs benefit.
(Of course, I suggest you don't actually get a Sun keyboard, because the location of backspace (no longer at the corner) is an abomination. If you have to use one, may I suggest the following:
(global-set-key "`" 'backward-delete-char-untabify)
(Add that to ~/.emacs) That will fix that braindead decision. I've been known to run a she
Re:Hand hurts after using Emacs all day (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What is Emacs? (Score:2)
All I know is (Score:3, Funny)
So it must be a MAC thing, and since I use Windows...
Re:What is Emacs? (Score:3, Funny)
Come with a good editor that doesnt require obscure unlogical keystrokes.
I agree. (Score:2)
Maybe I CAN do more stuff in this GNU Emacs thingy, and maybe I CAN use Vi bindings with it. [slashdot.org]
But I'm a stubborn guy who likes Notepad and Vi. I figured out Vi when I dl'ed the Windows version (and tried Cygwin's too). Didn't take me long. Emacs is one of those non-conformist, odd things (a right-facing mouse pointer? kill/yank?) that make me go "Huh?" like Jessica Simpson in a fish market...but I have the first edition (with "minor corrections") of this book, so I might learn it someday...
(As for No
Re:What is Emacs? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How do I get out of this?? (Score:3, Funny)
outdated joke (Score:5, Insightful)
"Eight Megs And Constantly Swapping"
next to the "Over Eighty Megs And Constantly Swapping" of nowadays heavy-duty IDEs, Emacs is as feather-weigth as vi.
Re:But how do you exit? (Score:2)
Back in the day, emacs was rather slow to load. Poeple tended to start one instance of it and never leave it.
C-x f, open file. Edit to hearts content.
C-x w, save the file
C-x k, close the close
later, rinse, repeat. Throw in a few C-x b to switch buffers for added spice.
Besides, once emacs is open you have a nice shell environment, network tools, etc.
Nice troll! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:charsets for emacs - eg PINYIN (Score:3, Informative)