From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.io!.POSTED.blaine.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Gregory Heytings via "Emacs development discussions." Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Interactive guide for new users (was: Re: Gather a list of confusions beginner tend to have) Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2020 16:00:41 +0000 Message-ID: References: <875z8ortot.fsf@gkayaalp.com> <83lfhjkq0r.fsf@gnu.org> <8620B5CD-CA92-46BF-80A8-DBE7052F4CA6@gmail.com> <32292E31-1603-4EF9-B772-EBD378C32F76@gmail.com> <83o8mcfjxb.fsf@gnu.org> <83een8fi2u.fsf@gnu.org> <83blicfh1l.fsf@gnu.org> Reply-To: Gregory Heytings Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=US-ASCII Injection-Info: ciao.gmane.io; posting-host="blaine.gmane.org:116.202.254.214"; logging-data="39596"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@ciao.gmane.io" User-Agent: Alpine 2.22 (NEB 394 2020-01-19) Cc: casouri@gmail.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org To: Eli Zaretskii Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane-mx.org@gnu.org Fri Sep 11 18:03:33 2020 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane-mx.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([209.51.188.17]) by ciao.gmane.io with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.92) (envelope-from ) id 1kGlWO-000ACB-Lh for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane-mx.org; Fri, 11 Sep 2020 18:03:32 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:55966 helo=lists1p.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kGlWN-0006jg-CL for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane-mx.org; Fri, 11 Sep 2020 12:03:31 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]:52928) by lists.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kGlTr-0002h2-KK for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 11 Sep 2020 12:00:56 -0400 Original-Received: from mx.sdf.org ([205.166.94.24]:53296) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kGlTp-0003sv-1U; Fri, 11 Sep 2020 12:00:55 -0400 Original-Received: from sdf.org (IDENT:ghe@faeroes.freeshell.org [205.166.94.9]) by mx.sdf.org (8.15.2/8.14.5) with ESMTPS id 08BG0jF4000594 (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256 bits) verified NO); Fri, 11 Sep 2020 16:00:46 GMT Original-Received: (from ghe@localhost) by sdf.org (8.15.2/8.12.8/Submit) id 08BG0vSb027554; Fri, 11 Sep 2020 16:00:57 GMT In-Reply-To: <83blicfh1l.fsf@gnu.org> Received-SPF: pass client-ip=205.166.94.24; envelope-from=ghe@sdf.org; helo=mx.sdf.org X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: First seen = 2020/09/11 09:22:45 X-ACL-Warn: Detected OS = ??? X-Spam_score_int: -18 X-Spam_score: -1.9 X-Spam_bar: - X-Spam_report: (-1.9 / 5.0 requ) BAYES_00=-1.9, SPF_HELO_PASS=-0.001, SPF_PASS=-0.001 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no X-Spam_action: no action X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane-mx.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: "Emacs-devel" Xref: news.gmane.io gmane.emacs.devel:255212 Archived-At: >>> I wouldn't call these basics "subtleties". They are the most >>> fundamental terminology in Emacs. >> >> They are indeed, I'm not denying this. My point of view here is: what >> are the most essential things that a user needs to know to use Emacs if >> we have no more than three minutes? Clearly (at least to me) it is >> possible to use Emacs without knowing what a "buffer" or a "window" is. > > How would they even understand the doc strings without knowing what's a > buffer and what's a window? We have the Glossary section in the manual, > for that very reason. > Again my point of view is: what are the most essential things that a user needs to know to use Emacs if we have no more than three minutes? The point is to create a minimal configuration wizard / guided tour to introduce them to the most essential things and help them to create a minimal configuration with which they would feel "at home", instead of having the "this is weird" feeling. You mention "doc strings", but why on earth would a user who just started using Emacs read doc strings?