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From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
To: Gregory Heytings <ghe@sdf.org>
Cc: casouri@gmail.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org
Subject: Re: Interactive guide for new users
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2020 12:55:31 +0300	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <83d02re2uk.fsf@gnu.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <alpine.NEB.2.22.394.2009120917260453.23267@sdf.lonestar.org> (emacs-devel@gnu.org)

> Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2020 09:31:06 +0000
> From: Gregory Heytings via "Emacs development discussions." <emacs-devel@gnu.org>
> 
> 
> Based on the feedback received so far, I reworked the proposal a bit. 

Thanks for thinking about this.  I have a few minor comments.

> The idea is to create an "initial greeting" that would be bundled with 
> Emacs, and would be executed the first time the first time Emacs is 
> launched (instead of the initial splash screen).

What is the definition of "the first time"? where will we keep the
indication that this is/isn't "the first time"?  Also, will this
affect "emacs -Q" or "emacs -q"?

> SCREEN 1: Welcome!  It seems that this is the first time you run Emacs, 
> would you like to customize its interface and have a short introduction? 
> This will not take you more than three minutes.

I presume this will have a button "Not now" and "Don't show this
again" or somesuch?

> SCREEN 2: "Set the color theme", with a clickable list containing the 
> (currently) 16 built-in themes.  A short code snippet above that list 
> illustrates how code is displayed with each of these themes.

The snippet will only be able to show the buffer text appearance.  For
other UI elements you will need an image.  Would using an image be
better here?

> [It would be nice to have a way to select a default font here, but I
> don't know if that feasible.]

I don't think I understand what you mean by that.  Selection of the
default font _is_ possible, we have in the Options menu.

> SCREEN 4: Choose whether to set some common options that new users might 
> want (because they are common in other text editors).  These are (the 
> order could be improved, and items could be added or removed):

We should carefully construct the list of the options, they shouldn't
just be someone's personal preferences.

> 2. disable tool-bar-mode
> 3. disable scroll-bar-mode

I'd object to these two.  We have just established that the former is
important for newbies.  Scroll bars are presented by many
applications, so why is it important to offer to turn them off here?
let the users decide about these two.

> 6. hl-line-mode

Why is this important? do other IDEs have it by default?

> 8. which-key-mode

I disagree with this one, certainly in its current form.

> 10. save-place-mode and desktop-save-mode

desktop-save-mode slows down startup, so it might not be suitable for
users who start Emacs many times a day.

> 11. (setq uniquify-buffer-name-style 'forward uniquify-min-dir-content 1024)

Why? what's wrong with the defaults here?

> 14. icomplete-mode (or fido-mode?)

Not sure this is a good idea, these modes present complex and
potentially confusing UI.

> 16. display-time-mode

Why?  Any modern desktop has the time displayed somewhere, so this
just occupies space on the mode line.

> SCREEN 6: How to find help.  Short explanation about C-h C-h, C-h m, C-h 
> p, C-h k / C-h w / C-h a, C-h l.

This misses important help commands, we should consider the list
carefully with newbies in mind.  IMO, the various apropos commands are
much more important for them than other help commands.

> SCREEN 8: Thank you. Your choices have been saved in Emacs' configuration 
> file ~/.emacs.d/init.el (or ~/.emacs ?).

What do we do here wrt XDG preferences?

> You can use M-x initial-greeting at any time to go through this
> configuration again.

That command should be on the Help menu.  And I think the name should
be 'introduction-to-emacs' or somesuch.



  reply	other threads:[~2020-09-12  9:55 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 174+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2020-09-08 18:48 Gather a list of confusions beginner tend to have Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-08 19:30 ` Yuan Fu
2020-09-08 21:30   ` Praharsh Suryadevara
2020-09-09  3:51     ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-09 14:18       ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-09 14:24         ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-09 15:07           ` Stefan Kangas
2020-09-09 16:09             ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-09 16:23               ` Praharsh Suryadevara
2020-09-09 16:06           ` Praharsh Suryadevara
2020-09-11  4:13             ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-11  4:13         ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-11  4:41           ` Praharsh Suryadevara
2020-09-09  7:57     ` tomas
2020-09-10  2:40       ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-10  3:32         ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-10  8:29           ` tomas
2020-09-10  9:08             ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-10  9:34               ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-10 10:08                 ` tomas
2020-09-10  9:30             ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-10 10:11               ` tomas
2020-09-11  4:18           ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-11  7:06             ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-11 13:47               ` Stefan Monnier
2020-09-12  3:22               ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-12  3:46                 ` Emanuel Berg via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-10  8:28         ` tomas
2020-09-09 14:01   ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-10 23:20     ` Yuan Fu
2020-09-11  0:20       ` Interactive guide for new users (was: Re: Gather a list of confusions beginner tend to have) Stefan Kangas
2020-09-11  8:15         ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-11  9:47           ` Interactive guide for new users Phil Sainty
2020-09-11 14:04           ` Interactive guide for new users (was: Re: Gather a list of confusions beginner tend to have) Yuan Fu
2020-09-11 14:38             ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-11 14:49               ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-11 15:20                 ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-11 15:28                   ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-11 15:46                     ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-11 15:51                       ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-11 16:00                         ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-11 17:03                           ` Interactive guide for new users Robert Pluim
2020-09-11 17:23                             ` Emanuel Berg via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-11 17:36                               ` Robert Pluim
2020-09-11 17:39                                 ` Emanuel Berg via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-11 18:43                           ` Interactive guide for new users (was: Re: Gather a list of confusions beginner tend to have) Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-11 19:48                             ` Ergus
2020-09-12  6:02                               ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-12  9:33                                 ` Ergus
2020-09-13 12:13                                   ` Interactive guide for new users Philip K.
2020-09-11 18:59                           ` FW: Interactive guide for new users (was: Re: Gather a list of confusions beginner tend to have) Drew Adams
2020-09-11 17:47                       ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-11 17:53                         ` Emanuel Berg via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-11 18:04                         ` Praharsh Suryadevara
2020-09-12 11:16                         ` Interactive guide for new users Lars Ingebrigtsen
2020-09-12 14:26                           ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-12 14:55                             ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-12 15:10                               ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-12 15:18                                 ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-13 18:12               ` Juri Linkov
2020-09-11 14:02         ` Interactive guide for new users (was: Re: Gather a list of confusions beginner tend to have) Yuan Fu
2020-09-12  9:31         ` Interactive guide for new users Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-12  9:55           ` Eli Zaretskii [this message]
2020-09-12 10:35             ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-12 10:52               ` Ergus
2020-09-12 10:58               ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-12 11:34                 ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-09-12 12:00                 ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-12 12:21                   ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-12 13:56                     ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-12 14:07                       ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-12 12:54                   ` Ergus
2020-09-12 12:16                 ` Ergus
2020-09-12 12:34                   ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-12 13:18                     ` Ergus
2020-09-12 13:43                       ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-12 14:17                         ` Ergus
2020-09-12 14:36                           ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-12 14:55                             ` Ergus
2020-09-12 16:25                             ` Ergus
2020-09-12 17:17                               ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-12 17:21                                 ` Yuan Fu
2020-09-12 17:39                                   ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-12 18:36                                   ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-12 20:05                                     ` Ergus
2020-09-13  0:01                         ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-09-13  2:35                           ` Ergus
2020-09-13 17:56                             ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-09-13 22:10                               ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-14 11:20                                 ` Thibaut Verron
2020-09-14 23:42                                   ` E
2020-09-15  7:40                                     ` Ergus
2020-09-15 23:40                                       ` E
2020-09-15 12:10                                   ` Stephen Leake
2020-09-15 12:22                                     ` Thibaut Verron
2020-09-15 23:33                                     ` E
2020-09-13 18:01                             ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-09-13 18:20                             ` Tim Van den Langenbergh
2020-09-13 21:10                               ` Ergus
2020-09-13  7:14                           ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-13 14:04                           ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-13 16:38                             ` John Yates
2020-09-13 16:51                               ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-13 17:39                               ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-09-14 12:41                                 ` John Yates
2020-09-14 15:28                                   ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-15  1:42                                     ` John Yates
2020-09-15  7:00                                       ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-16  3:30                                         ` John Yates
2020-09-16 10:14                                           ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-15 14:15                                       ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-14 22:28                                   ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-09-13 17:47                             ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-09-14 14:17                             ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-26  9:16               ` Elias Mårtenson
2020-09-26  9:31                 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-26 14:38                 ` Drew Adams
2020-09-26 15:13                   ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-26 16:33                     ` Drew Adams
2020-09-26 16:39                   ` Andreas Schwab
2020-09-26 16:57                     ` Drew Adams
2020-09-26 16:01                 ` Jean Louis
2020-09-12 11:02             ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-12 12:12               ` Gregory Heytings via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-14 10:52               ` Robert Pluim
2020-09-19 15:20         ` Interactive guide for new users (was: Re: Gather a list of confusions beginner tend to have) Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-19 17:02           ` Drew Adams
2020-09-21 14:50             ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-21 16:07               ` Drew Adams
2020-09-21 21:40                 ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-21 23:03                   ` Drew Adams
2020-09-22  3:40                 ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-22  9:06                   ` Interactive guide for new users Philip K.
2020-09-23  3:40                     ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-23 12:49                       ` Philip K.
2020-09-24  1:32                         ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-26  3:13                           ` Okam
2020-09-22 14:06                   ` Stefan Monnier
2020-09-28  9:24                   ` Po Lu
2020-09-29  3:29                     ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-19 17:16           ` Philip K.
2020-09-19 17:25             ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-19 18:09               ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-19 18:39                 ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-19 21:43                   ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-20  5:52                     ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-21 22:15                       ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-22 13:56                         ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-23 12:54                           ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-23 13:28                             ` Caio Henrique
2020-09-23 13:42                               ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-23 14:16                             ` Stefan Kangas
2020-09-23 14:58                             ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-23 23:14                               ` Yuan Fu
2020-09-30 13:20                                 ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-30 14:11                                   ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-19 17:53             ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-20  9:26               ` Philip K.
2020-09-21 21:48                 ` Eduardo Mercovich
2020-09-11  6:45       ` Gather a list of confusions beginner tend to have Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-11  8:51         ` Dmitry Gutov
2020-09-11  8:59           ` Emanuel Berg via Emacs development discussions.
2020-09-11 13:52         ` Yuan Fu
2020-09-11 14:01           ` Eli Zaretskii
2020-09-11 14:27           ` Stefan Monnier
2020-09-09  2:01 ` Nick Savage
2020-09-09 14:48   ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-10  2:36 ` Richard Stallman
2020-09-10 10:07   ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
2020-09-10 17:28     ` Drew Adams
2020-09-10 21:17       ` Göktuğ Kayaalp
     [not found] <<875z8ortot.fsf@gkayaalp.com>
     [not found] ` <<D09D40C2-FF5C-4D1B-A030-C710297C1AE0@gmail.com>
     [not found]   ` <<83lfhjkq0r.fsf@gnu.org>
     [not found]     ` <<8620B5CD-CA92-46BF-80A8-DBE7052F4CA6@gmail.com>
     [not found]       ` <<CADwFkm=GQqZ2e07QuC582T-MNhi1Xo4OPsMTYbQHH9gD7h6QnA@mail.gmail.com>
     [not found]         ` <<alpine.NEB.2.22.394.2009120917260453.23267@sdf.lonestar.org>
     [not found]           ` <<83d02re2uk.fsf@gnu.org>
2020-09-12 16:25             ` Interactive guide for new users Drew Adams
2020-09-13  4:34               ` Ihor Radchenko
  -- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2020-09-29 11:11 Itai Efrat

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