Re: Org mode and Emacs (was: Convert README.org to plain text README while installing package)

[Tom Gillespie]

Having read the whole thread now: oof. Thank you Ihor for shepherding
that and for the performance improvements!

With regard to the key-bindings straw man. I guess I'm a bit of an
outsider on this one, because I started writing org documents by just
typing them in and only over time learning some of the bindings. Maybe
having an org-markup-mode or something like that would be a way to
provide a sandbox for the +recalcitrants+ newcomers? It might also be
a nice way to a/b test them on whether the Emacs editing commands
really are as good as they think they are (said the evil-mode user).

With regard to ... everything else. I guess at this point it is
unsurprising that (for lack of a better term) the uninitiated in the
dark corners of org syntax frequently think that syntactic extensions
are advisable, skipping over the consideration of possible.

Given the opportunities that seem to be lurking in the thread, it
seems like it would be good to have some examples of how the
e.g. texinfo semantic markup could (or could not) be implemented using
existing org syntax. The suggestion to use custom link types seems
very practical. It requires no new syntax, and is basically fully
extensible for semantic markup needs.

I say this having recently spent time reworking the paragraph grammar
and the lexer needed to enable it in laundry for the 3rd (or is it
4th?) time. Say it with me: No new syntactic forms! We have more than
enough syntax to enable all the extensibility that pretty much anyone
will ever need (we just have to document how to use it).

In-document extensibility of link types might be possible if we get my
regularized keyword syntax implemented, if that were done then all the
configuration could in-principle live in a setup file (I have a
response on the syntax thread drafted, will try to get back to it).

Nesting markup inside code or verbatim seems more difficult because
they are intentionally terminal. I am also unfamiliar with texinfo so
will be of no help with the examples, but I do look forward to them.

Best!
Tom