help-emacs-windows
[Top][All Lists]
Advanced

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Is there a way to create a stripped-down version of Windows GNU Emac


From: Robert Lerche
Subject: Re: Is there a way to create a stripped-down version of Windows GNU Emacs?
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 09:10:51 -0700

I enthusiastically concur with John Xenakis' recommendations.  I was a vi user for years until a colleague I respected said to me one day, "you have to learn emacs".  Once I started there was no going back.  Emacs Lisp takes a bit of getting used to but it is worth the effort.  I have carried my .emacs file around for over 20 years now, adding to it as I go.  Nowadays emacs is my main work environment and when I share a screen and give a presentation my coworkers are amazed.

On Wed, Mar 25, 2020 at 8:50 AM John J. Xenakis <address@hidden> wrote:
Dear David,

>   Unfortunately, I had already looked into Emacs extensions to
>   provide project maintenance, and what I found would have taken me
>   more time to modify than if I started from scratch and wrote my
>   own emacslisp. And I could not find any indexed outline (as in
>   NoteTab) extensions (perhaps I didn't know the right place to
>   look).

>   Also, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a forum oriented
>   toward people doing substantial customization work on Windows
>   Emacs.

>   I really need a better editor, but without support it seems a
>   risky project.

>   I thank you for pointing out that stripping down Emacs probably
>   would not be of much help.

>   I'll take another look at customizing Emacs when I have time away
>   from my current rather intensive project (creating a website
>   framework).

>   Finding or creating an editor that supports the way I like to work
>   seems to be rather difficult.

Well, let's look at it this way.

I use Emacs for all sorts of things -- text files, html files, Java
files, C++ files, templates, XML files, batch files, etc.  This means
that no matter what I'm doing, I can use the same editor commands and
the same hotkeys.  Emacs macros do all my file and directory
management, so all my files and directories are managed the same way,
no matter what I'm doing.

Whenever I find myself doing the same thing over and over, then I write
an Emacs macro.  Yes, that takes time, but it means that I save enormous
amounts of time in the future.

I'll go even farther than that.  In the rare situation that Emacs
can't do something, then I have the macro call a Perl program to do
whatever is necessary.

And even farther: I've worked on Windows and on several flavors of
Unix, including Red Hat Linux and Macintosh Linux, and I use EXACTLY
the same macros and hotkeys to do editing and file management.  And of
course Perl is available on all those systems.  So no matter what I'm
working on, no matter what computer I'm on, I have a familiar user
interface that works exactly the way I want to.

Yes, it takes time to get it set up, but the rewards are enormous.
In fact, I save huge amounts of time every day, since Emacs does all
sorts of things for me that would normally take time.

>   Also, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a forum oriented
>   toward people doing substantial customization work on Windows
>   Emacs.

The problem is that your desires for a user interface are probably
extremely personal.  I use all the macros and templates that come with
Emacs, but I still have all sorts of things that I want to do --
manipulating files, managing files, converting files, etc. -- that are
what I want and probably no one else in the world wants.

For example, I've written macros that provide a searchable indexed
outline, and I absolutely love that functionality and use it a
thousand times a day, and it works the same on all files, operating
systems and platforms, but it probably still isn't exactly the way
you'd like it.  Your tastes are as personal as mine.

So you might find a forum that provides generic Emacs solutions,
but most likely you or a consultant would have to customize the
macros specifically to the way you want to work.

You also mentioned support.  I've used editors like Brief and Codewrite
in the past that are no longer supported and don't even run on the
latest versions of Windows.   That REALLY sucks.

So another reason that I like Emacs is that it's almost certain to be
supported forever.  It's been around since the 1970s, and has been
implemented on just about every platform.  Same with Perl.  So I'm
pretty certain that it will be around longer than I will, which is
good enough for me.

>   Finding or creating an editor that supports the way I like to work
>   seems to be rather difficult.

My suggestion is that you bite the bullet and get some minimal
functionality working the way you want it, and then add to it over
time.  Once you write some basic macros to do project management, then
you're all set forever, and you can add to functionality as you wish.

Sincerely,

John

John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: address@hidden
Resume: http://www.jxenakis.com/resume
http://www.jxenakis.com





reply via email to

[Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread]