the Modernization of Emacs
in [Lisp]
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From: Alan Mackenzie on 6 May 2006 03:02 David Kastrup <dak(a)gnu.org> wrote on Tue, 02 May 2006 13:09:57 +0200: > A degree in Emacs does not help: there is sort of a consensus between > core developers of Emacs and XEmacs that they compile their own Emacsen > because they don't understand the Debian Emacs policy. > In fact, a degree in Emacs is downright detrimental: Emacs' load-path > search order and arrangement and the byte-compilation commands are > _based_ on the premise that .el-files and .elc-files are in the same > directory. All of this is completely broken in Debian's Emacs layouts. I had a problem with Debian's setup: It had installed a content free site-start.el file, high up on the load-list, so as to frustrate and irritate me by preventing Emacs loading my real site-start.el. Took me half an hour to diagnose this. > If you use the diagnostics like M-x list-load-path-shadows RET, you get > gazillions of conflicts displayed. Hey, I didn't know about this command. I wish I had've done about 5 years ago. It's brilliant. Thanks, David! > Emacs does not understand what Debian is doing with it, and the Emacs > developers and users don't understand it. > -- > David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum -- Alan Mackenzie (Munich, Germany) Email: aacm(a)muuc.dee; to decode, wherever there is a repeated letter (like "aa"), remove half of them (leaving, say, "a").
From: Xah Lee on 8 May 2006 02:20 Common User Access (CUA) is a set of guidelines for the user interface to personal computer operating systems and computer programs, developed by IBM starting in 1987 as part of their Systems Application Architecture. Used originally in the OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems, parts of the CUA standard are now implemented in programs for other operating systems, including Mac OS X and Unix and in Java AWT and Swing. The CUA contains standards for the operation of dialog boxes, menus and keyboard shortcuts that have become so influential that they are implemented today by many programmers who have never read the CUA. Some of these standards can be seen in the operation of Windows itself and DOS-based applications like the MS-DOS 5 full-screen text editor EDIT. CUA hallmarks include: * A menu bar across the top of the window; * All operations could be done with either the mouse or the keyboard; * Menus opened by pressing the Alt key plus the underlined letter of the menu name; alt on its own activated the menu bar; * Menu commands which require further information are indicated by a suffixed ellipsis ("..."); * Options are requested using dialog boxes; * Navigation within fields in dialog boxes is by cursor key; navigation between fields is by pressing [Tab] or [Shift]+[Tab] to go backwards; * Dialog boxes should have a "Cancel" button, activated by pressing the [Esc] key, which discards changes, and an "OK" button, activated by pressing [Return]; * The program should have online help, with a Help menu as the last option on the menu bar; context-sensitive help should be summoned by pressing the [F1] function key; * The first menu should be called "File" and contain operations for handling files, quitting the program and so on; the next is called "Edit" and contains cut, copy, paste commands; the next is "View"; * The Cut command is [Shift]+[Del]; Copy is [Ctrl]+[Ins]; Paste is [Shift]+[Ins]; * The size of a window can be changed with by dragging one of the 8-segments of the border. CUA was a detailed specification and set strict rules about how applications should look and function. Its aim was in part to bring about harmony between MS-DOS applications, which until then had implemented totally different user interfaces. Examples: * In WordPerfect, the command to open a file was [F7], [3]. * In Lotus 1-2-3, a file was opened with [/] (to open the menus), [W] (for Workspace), [R] (for Retrieve). * In Microsoft Word, a file was opened with [Esc] (to open the menus), [T] (for Transfer), [L] (for Load). * In WordStar, it was [Ctrl]+[K]+[O]. Some programs used [Esc] to cancel an action, some used it to complete one; WordPerfect used it to repeat a character. Some programs used [End] to go to the end of a line, some used it to complete filling in a form. [F1] was often help but in WordPerfect that was [F3]. [Ins] sometimes toggled between overtype and inserting characters, but some programs used it for "paste". Thus, every program had to be learned individually and its complete user interface memorized. It was a sign of expertise to have learned the UIs of dozens of applications, since a novice user facing a new program would find their existing knowledge of a similar application absolutely no use whatsoever. This detailed specification drew some of its inspiration from Apple Computer's lavishly detailed Human Interface Guidelines. The Apple HIG is a detailed book specifying exactly how software for the Apple Macintosh computer should look and function. When it was first written, the Mac was new and GUI software was a novelty, so Apple took great pains to ensure that programs would conform to a single shared look and feel. CUA had a similar aim, but faced the more difficult task of trying to impose this retroactively on an existing, thriving but chaotic industry. However, CUA did not only cover DOS applications; it was also the standard to which the user interface of Windows was designed, as well as that for OS/2 applications - both text-mode and the Presentation Manager GUI - and IBM mainframes which conformed to the Systems Application Architecture. Thus CUA was more than just an attempt to rationalise DOS applications - it was part of a larger scheme to bring together, rationalise and harmonize the overall functions of software across IBM's entire computing range, from microcomputers to mainframes, their UIs, functioning, communications and storage protocols. As this encompassed PCs and compatibles, it extended to the entire PC industry - which is perhaps part of the reason it was not completely successful. The third edition of CUA took a radical departure from the first two by introducing the object-oriented workplace. This changed the emphasis of the users interactions to be the data (documents, pictures, and so on) that the user worked on. The emphasis on applications was removed with the intention of making it much easier to use than other systems. The workplace was adopted by Microsoft in the 1995 version of Windows. Critically the Start menu was introduced which removed the emphasis on an object-oriented desktop. ----------------- The above is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_User_Access And it is of interest. Xah xah(a)xahlee.org ∑ http://xahlee.org/
From: Miles Bader on 8 May 2006 20:08 "Xah Lee" <xah(a)xahlee.org> writes: > And it is of interest. Not really. -miles -- Next to fried food, the South has suffered most from oratory. -- Walter Hines Page
From: David Combs on 22 May 2006 08:52 In article <j921i3-9ka.ln1(a)l.h.c>, Hadron Quark <hadronquark(a)gmail.com> wrote: > "Galen"posted on 2006-04-25: > >emacs is great : but lets never think its easy :) Like everything its >easy when you know how : and that "when you know how" is, in my >experience, the stumbling block to many people embracing emacs with >the love and attention that it deserves. I learned enough to be able to edit with it via the rms-"TUTORIAL": "C-h t". That was sufficient, that essential 1% of emacs. David
From: Galen Boyer on 22 May 2006 19:59
On Mon, 22 May 2006, dkcombs(a)panix.com wrote: > In article <j921i3-9ka.ln1(a)l.h.c>, Hadron Quark > <hadronquark(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> "Galen"posted on 2006-04-25: >> >>emacs is great : but lets never think its easy :) Like everything its >>easy when you know how : and that "when you know how" is, in my >>experience, the stumbling block to many people embracing emacs with >>the love and attention that it deserves. > > I learned enough to be able to edit with it via > the rms-"TUTORIAL": "C-h t". > > That was sufficient, that essential 1% of emacs. Yes. But most Emacs users I know don't know how to get Emacs to teach them Emacs. Thats really the big leap one needs to take. Take the time to learn how to ask Emacs questions and you will have no problem learning Emacs. -- Galen Boyer |