the Modernization of Emacs
in [Lisp]
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From: Frode Øijord on 10 Apr 2006 09:35 Xah Lee wrote: > Things emacs need to change for modern world: > > * Change the keyboard shortcut of Copy & Paste to meta-C and meta-V > as to be the same with all modern applications. > * Change the undo behavior so that there is a Undo and Redo, as the > same with all modern applications. > This has been available for quite some time. Just enable cua-mode: M-x cua-mode. I'm not sure if there is any precompiled emacs available with this on windows, so you should probably just grab the latest source from CVS and compile it yourself. -- Frode, SIM "Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand"
From: Rob Thorpe on 10 Apr 2006 09:59 Greg Menke wrote: > "Xah Lee" <xah(a)xahlee.org> writes: > > > Things emacs need to change for modern world: > > > > * Change the keyboard shortcut of Copy & Paste to meta-C and meta-V > > as to be the same with all modern applications. > > * Change the undo behavior so that there is a Undo and Redo, as the > > same with all modern applications. > > * Get rid of the *scratch* buffer. > > * Make longlines-mode the default editor behavior for any file. > > > > Things emacs should do now, even though it eventually will do. > > > > * When opening a HTML document, automatically provide highlighting > > of HTML, CSS, and Javascript codes. Similarly for other multi-language > > files such as PHP, JSP, et al. This behavior must be automatic without > > requiring user to customize emacs. > > > > Possible Documentation Change Proposals > > > > * Reduce the use of the word "buffer" in the emacs > > documentation. Call it "opened file" or "unsaved document". > > * Switch the terminology of Window and Frame so it is more > > standard. That is, Emacs's "Window" should be called Panes or > > Frames. While Emacs's "Frame" should be termed Window. > > * Change the terminology of keybinding to "keyboard shortcut" > > in emacs documentation. Use the term keybinding or binding only in a > > technical context, such as in elisp documentation. > > > > Sounds great. Download the source, make the changes but do please keep > it to yourself. This is Emacs we're talking about, for most of what the Xah mentioned the source doesn't even need changing. You could make all the changes only by overriding functions. AFAIK only dispensing with scratch and changing the documentation needs source modification. Of-course it would be useful if some of these things were done by default since it would make Emacs easier to use for the beginner. I get the impression a lot of people end up using Vim and Eclipse because the default setup of Emacs is not suitable for their needs, so they abandon it straight away.
From: Ray Dillinger on 10 Apr 2006 10:16 Xah Lee wrote: > Things emacs need to change for modern world: Dude, that's always been the strength of emacs. If you don't like the way it does things, just write a major mode that makes it work the way you want. Bear
From: Bruce Stephens on 10 Apr 2006 12:14 Ray Dillinger <bear(a)sonic.net> writes: > Xah Lee wrote: >> Things emacs need to change for modern world: > > Dude, that's always been the strength of emacs. If you > don't like the way it does things, just write a major > mode that makes it work the way you want. And, since it's so easy, you'll probably find someone else has done much of it: <http://www.dur.ac.uk/p.j.heslin/Software/Emacs/Easymacs/>.
From: Pascal Bourguignon on 10 Apr 2006 12:15
Burton Samograd <kruhftREMOVE(a)gmail.com> writes: > "fredrik.bulow(a)gmail.com" <fredrik.bulow(a)gmail.com> writes: > >> Even beginners like having a *scratch* buffer for temporary stuff. What >> have you got against it? > > i'm thinking that having it in elisp-interaction mode is not what most > beginners want to start in, and not knowing how to change (or even > know what) a mode it might leave some of them confused...i know i was > for years until i understood what emacs, and it's internals, was > really all about... Modes are extensively explained in the tutorial > emacs is great, but as a tool it really takes years of dedication and > effort to understand it, it's quirks and it why it's the way it is. > the time pays off in the end, but it can really be a pain when you > want to figure out how to do something *fast* (thank $DEITY for wiki's > and google these days). If you want to do something *fast*, you use nano or Notepad.exe. -- __Pascal Bourguignon__ http://www.informatimago.com/ What is this talk of 'release'? Klingons do not make software 'releases'. Our software 'escapes' leaving a bloody trail of designers and quality assurance people in it's wake. |