abakthav@rodan.acs.syr.edu (bakthavathsalam) (10/14/89)
I am eager to use EMACS, after frustrating hours of trying to use vi. Anyone care to suggest the best way to go about learning EMACS. Thank you for your time. Ashok Bakthavathsalam at Syracuse University, (unfortunately...)
fender@fig.ucsb.edu (Chen, John Yun-kuang) (10/14/89)
In article <1030@rodan.acs.syr.edu> abakthav@rodan.acs.syr.edu (bakthavathsalam) writes:
I am eager to use EMACS, after frustrating hours of trying to use vi.
Anyone care to suggest the best way to go about learning EMACS.
Thank you for your time.
Ashok Bakthavathsalam at Syracuse University, (unfortunately...)
Hurray for you! For the time you invest into emacs, you will get many
rewards, many many more than vi! And if you want to switch back, well emacs
has a vi mode. :-) The easiest way is to begin with tutorial. After
starting emacs, press "Ctrl-h t" and this will begin the tutorial. Next I
suggest getting a copy of the GNU emacs reference card. At our school, we
have copies of the reference card that came from the back of a manual. When
you really want to get in-depth, then I suggest looking at the manuel.
Sometimes, this is not enough. People seem to need simplier sheets to begin
using the program. At our school, we're in the process of generating help
sheets for the various aspects of emacs :
1. basic emacs commands
2. using buffers & multiple windows
3. C-coding, compiling & debugging
4. rmail - the alternative to mail
5. gnus - the NNTP based news reader
6. advanced features - tricks & tips for better use.
If anybody out there has already done this, please contact me! I would like
to see what has worked in teaching people emacs quickly & what questions are
most frequently asked about emacs by new users.
Thanks
--
John Chen c/o Assoc. for Computing Machinery| X, emacs, bash, gnus, rmail,
University of California at Santa Barbara | !vi, !suntools, !csh, !mail
Santa Barbara, Ca. 93107 | WHY AREN'T YOU USING THEM?mesard@bbn.com (Wayne Mesard) (10/15/89)
fender@cornu.ucsb.edu writes: >For the time you invest into emacs, you will get many >The easiest way is to begin with tutorial. After >starting emacs, press "Ctrl-h t" and this will begin the tutorial. [and more excellent tips] To which I'd add a pointer to two more Help commands. Ctrl-h A. This is command-apropos. It will list every command containing a particular phrase. So, for example, Ctrl-h A sort<Return> will list all the commands having to do with sorting. Ctrl-h W will tell you what key a particular command is bound to (if any). Ctrl-h C. This is describe-key-briefly. So to find out what Esc-k does, type Ctrl-h C <Esc> k Maybe it's just me, but my fingers know a lot more about Emacs than my [conscious] mind does. And the way that knowledge got there is through liberal use of the Ctrl-h help commands and by keeping the Emacs manual close at hand. Also, don't forget the things that make GNU Emacs fun (and make its opponents groan). Play with: Esc-X hanoi Esc-X yow Esc-X doctor among others. (Use Ctrl-h D to find out more about these.) -- unsigned *Wayne_Mesard(); "Are you for UNIX or are you against UNIX? Mesard@BBN.COM People know the answers even if they don't BBN, Cambridge, MA understand the question." -Bill Joy
jr@BBN.COM (John Robinson) (10/15/89)
> Also, don't forget the things that make GNU Emacs fun (and make its > opponents groan). Play with: > > Esc-X hanoi > Esc-X yow > Esc-X doctor And let me mention another of my favorites, Esc-X dissociated-press. -- /jr, nee John Robinson Life did not take over the globe by combat, jr@bbn.com or bbn!jr but by networking -- Lynn Margulis
fender@fig.ucsb.edu (Chen, John Yun-kuang) (10/16/89)
In article <20011.624421857@bbn.com> jr@BBN.COM (John Robinson) writes: > Also, don't forget the things that make GNU Emacs fun (and make its > opponents groan). Play with: > > Esc-X hanoi > Esc-X yow > Esc-X doctor And let me mention another of my favorites, Esc-X dissociated-press. Someone at our school also programmed M-x complete-thesis! For those of you who requested some of the help sheets we're generating, I'll send you updates about the status of them & how to obtain them within the next 2 weeks. I should have some of them done by the wednesday after next. -- John Chen c/o Assoc. for Computing Machinery| X, emacs, bash, gnus, rmail, University of California at Santa Barbara | !vi, !suntools, !csh, !mail Santa Barbara, Ca. 93107 | WHY AREN'T YOU USING THEM?
ECB@UTRCCM.BITNET (10/16/89)
>> Also, don't forget the things that make GNU Emacs fun (and make its >> opponents groan). Play with: >> >> Esc-X hanoi >> Esc-X yow >> Esc-X doctor > And let me mention another of my favorites, Esc-X > dissociated-press. Well, while we're on the subject, let's not forget M-x psychoanalyze-pinhead This prints out a conversation between the yow and doctor programs listed above. Try them first! Bud Boman ecb@utrccm.smc.utc.com
nelson@m.cs.uiuc.edu (10/16/89)
But lest you forget: M-x psychoanalyze-pinhead which, as you might have guessed, puts Eliza and Zippy in the same room.
eliot@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Eliot Handelman) (10/17/89)
In article <8910161119.AA29668@utrccm.SMC.UTC.COM> UNIX-EMACS@VM.TCS.Tulane.EDU writes:
;>> Also, don't forget the things that make GNU Emacs fun (and make its
;>> opponents groan). Play with:
;>>
;>> Esc-X hanoi
;>> Esc-X yow
;>> Esc-X doctor
;
;> And let me mention another of my favorites, Esc-X
;> dissociated-press.
;
;Well, while we're on the subject, let's not forget
; M-x psychoanalyze-pinhead
No one has mentioned my favorite,
M-x psychoanalyze-flamer
The doc describes it as "Mr Angry goes to the psychiatrist."barry@joshua.math.ucla.edu (Barry Merriman) (10/17/89)
Other nifty diversions: M-x life (Conway's cellular automata, not the game from Parker Bros.) M-x studlify-text (or something close to that...What the hell does it do?) Or, more generally, look for interesting commands in the /lisp directory in the emacs distribution. On a more serious note, get the ispell spelling checker, and its emacs interface---they're great! (but they are not part of the standard gnu distribution yet.) -Barry Merriman I'm gonna get a spleling checker, real soon.