From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: David House Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: guided tour suggestions Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:54:30 +0100 Message-ID: <18051.34134.815718.363379@gargle.gargle.HOWL> References: <87645ai4cl.fsf@phil.mit.edu> <85d4zi6jdo.fsf@lola.goethe.zz> <874pksef39.fsf@phil.mit.edu> <86tzssy27o.fsf@lola.quinscape.zz> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1183024489 23197 80.91.229.12 (28 Jun 2007 09:54:49 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:54:49 +0000 (UTC) Cc: Phil Sung , emacs-devel@gnu.org To: David Kastrup Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Thu Jun 28 11:54:44 2007 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1I3qi1-0007Uh-Jq for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:54:41 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1I3qi1-0001Ub-4s for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:54:41 -0400 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1I3qhx-0001UK-N7 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:54:37 -0400 Original-Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1I3qhx-0001U6-6T for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:54:37 -0400 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1I3qhw-0001Ts-VG for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:54:37 -0400 Original-Received: from wx-out-0506.google.com ([66.249.82.231]) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1I3qhw-0003Es-Gi for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 28 Jun 2007 05:54:36 -0400 Original-Received: by wx-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id s7so126275wxc for ; Thu, 28 Jun 2007 02:54:35 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:from:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:message-id:date:to:cc:subject:in-reply-to:references:x-mailer; b=hYT59Dhudwy9jPOlXODAEfsQfQOQ9Uj9Xo9jKE5Bjn95eQmkqRj5GqqErSsqhqHl9lTykVi5MjAjQ01Xc5yCQAPIfVGx7bFQAfMeil/5g6WH3s6vnzZ8y+dyjdsdHDB7AOWysmkc7xx0lCBkEYHrPpS5EN+IZPbVVaPm8pypySU= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=received:from:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:message-id:date:to:cc:subject:in-reply-to:references:x-mailer; b=eU7GQbFs+5THKTb4Yn9tF4Wt8Cyx70kRLtlVjDhAWcuTgnPeJLC6U6bnbiJ2HnzxfvxG09rpmrdhkkReLnGr1h1/Y0R4kAJovUmWSGfpMj+om/D6CDQOWJrn3y8w6mnHMzFHsJorQGSGTVs3ZmNB/9dLM78VOHzdfvzp6hqT9Ic= Original-Received: by 10.70.87.11 with SMTP id k11mr113638wxb.1183024475530; Thu, 28 Jun 2007 02:54:35 -0700 (PDT) Original-Received: from tarn ( [86.132.138.230]) by mx.google.com with ESMTP id i38sm485535wxd.2007.06.28.02.54.33 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=OTHER); Thu, 28 Jun 2007 02:54:35 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <86tzssy27o.fsf@lola.quinscape.zz> X-Mailer: VM 7.19 under Emacs 23.0.0.1 X-detected-kernel: Linux 2.6 (newer, 2) X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:73986 Archived-At: David Kastrup writes: > One of the problems with promoting Emacs nowadays are users who tried it 10 > years ago and were not getting along with it. Dispelling their (and their > audience's) preconceptions is easier with more graphical material. I think this is worthwhile. > I am aware that one of the most frequent customizations is turning off > the toolbar in order to maximize screen estate and minimize clutter. > For a live showoff of the skills of an experienced user, this might be > somewhat feasible. But as soon as we are getting into (live or > off-line) tutorial reign, it becomes a much better idea to show off > and use the menus: that way, people have a chance of _following_ what > you are doing, and maybe even of doing it by themselves. True. If people install Emacs, try to follow along with the tour, then find their Emacs looks totally different to the one in the screenshots, they're going to be confused. Perhaps we could have a little section in the tour showing off how customisable Emacs is. We could say: If you want a more bare-bones Emacs, a good start might be to turn off some of the more prominent GUI features. [Screenshot showing Custom buffer with settings to turn off scrollbar, menus and toolbar, in an Emacs without those features activated.] Every single time a different colour or font is used, you can customise which one to use: [Screenshot showing an Emacs with a white-on-black colour scheme and a non-default font.] These are just the GUI customisations. Here's a selection of the other things you can change: * Every single key binding in every single mode can be remapped, including mouse sequences. * You can redefine any function or command by writing Emacs Lisp. [... a few more things here] Because all of these options can be overwhelming, Emacs provides a powerful configuration interface, M-x custom: [Screenshot of the top Custom group.] http://emacswiki.org also contains a veritable library of common and not-so-common customisations. Or something of the sort. I think this is an important part of Emacs we should try to convey. -- -David House, dmhouse@gmail.com