The Modernization of Emacs

[Joel J. Adamson]

Twisted <twisted0n3 at gmail.com> writes:

> On Jun 20, 12:39 pm, jadam... at partners.org (Joel J. Adamson) wrote:
>> The point is that the responsibility to customize is on the user.
>
> Given that in its out-of-the-box configuration it's well-nigh unusable
> without a printed-out "cheat sheet" of some kind, of the sort that
> were supposed to have died out in the 80s, getting it customized poses
> something of a catch-22 for anyone trying to get started using it.

Again, I have to point out that I had a different experience.  I did
the tutorial, and somehow immediately I understood how to customize.
I don't remember having any difficulty with Emacs other than not
liking the way it looked -- that's because I was on Windows (I later
found out).  I soon fixed that problem.  I didn't need a cheat-sheet,
since the help files are _actually_ _helpful_ unlike those "Help"
(=advertising) files on most other pieces of software.

My point is that I'm the sort of person that has a mind set up for
Emacs.  I had none of the difficulties that someone else might have,
who's used to other kinds of software.

However, I'll also point out that my wife has used Emacs a couple
times, and she's never done more than point and click with a computer,
and she's had no frustration whatsoever.

Joel

-- 
Joel J. Adamson
Biostatistician
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Research Unit
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA  02114
(617) 643-1432
(303) 880-3109

A webpage of interest:
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/sylvester-response.html