From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: wgreenhouse@riseup.net (W. Greenhouse) Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: What are Emacs best uses? Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 16:05:41 +0000 Message-ID: <87bo51mv8q.fsf@motoko.kusanagi> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1376409983 18194 80.91.229.3 (13 Aug 2013 16:06:23 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 16:06:23 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Tue Aug 13 18:06:26 2013 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1V9H74-0004w5-Gn for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Tue, 13 Aug 2013 18:06:26 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:41277 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1V9H73-000305-Sc for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Tue, 13 Aug 2013 12:06:25 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:46728) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1V9H6k-0002yX-Ur for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 13 Aug 2013 12:06:12 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1V9H6f-0000H2-SZ for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 13 Aug 2013 12:06:06 -0400 Original-Received: from plane.gmane.org ([80.91.229.3]:42341) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1V9H6f-0000Gs-7U for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 13 Aug 2013 12:06:01 -0400 Original-Received: from list by plane.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1V9H6d-0004Yr-3o for help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org; Tue, 13 Aug 2013 18:05:59 +0200 Original-Received: from 199.48.147.35 ([199.48.147.35]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Tue, 13 Aug 2013 18:05:59 +0200 Original-Received: from wgreenhouse by 199.48.147.35 with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Tue, 13 Aug 2013 18:05:59 +0200 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ Original-Lines: 125 Original-X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org X-Gmane-NNTP-Posting-Host: 199.48.147.35 User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/24.3 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:BpF5yhUpTd/rHLbi3pXQgoHzx8Y= X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: Genre and OS details not recognized. X-Received-From: 80.91.229.3 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:92849 Archived-At: Hi Jorge, Jorge <1gato0a@gmail.com> writes: > Hi. What are the best uses of Emacs? I currently use it to compose emails, > manage files, to edit LaTeX, and to edit source code and configuration files. > But Emacs seems to be mediocre at viewing PDFs. Evince has better > search. I would certainly agree that doc-view-mode is a most peculiar PDF/PS/DVI viewer, but you should be aware that, in addition to C-s to do regexp search on the page images, you can also use C-c C-t to see a text-only representation (actually, `pdftotext' command output) which is more suitable for heavy manipulation of the text of the PDF. > What is Emacs really good for? Emacs's key features are due to being a consistent and cohesive Lisp environment with a rich library of functions, which, due to the nature of a Lisp environment, can easily be re-used by any other software installed on Emacs. This is a level of interaction similar to, but even deeper than, the interaction between two applications running under the same desktop environment. Some examples: - Running a compile job or a debugger under Emacs, you can simply click on the file and line number of an error to see the error in context in the source. - My Emacs mailclient understands what a patch file is, and highlights it just like a buffer in `diff-mode' showing the same patch. - doc-view-mode uses the Emacs bookmark system [1] to save the exact page in a PDF. My mailclient can also use the bookmark system to save a reference to a particular email. - My Emacs IRC client can display rendered LaTeX equations right in an IRC channel ( http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ErcTex ). Some of these use cases might seem rather trivial, but the overall point is that Emacs offers the ability to use and reuse a very deep library of Lisp functions, not just for text manipulation but also for networking, file management, handling of subprocesses, etc., within a consistent interface that does not cause a worker to have to break context to do a new task. > Is it a good personal information manager? Can you manage your > information (todo, grocery list, etc.) and sync with a smartphone? If > you can't sync with a smartphone, how do you manage the grocery list? There are several personal information managers for Emacs, the most popular and actively developed being Org.[2] In addition to offering TODO/agenda/outliner, Org comprises a full plain-text office suite, with document authoring, spreadsheet, and database aspects as well as literate programming features and the ability to run scripts in other languages to generate content in a file. I am a law graduate, and I use Org to organize legal research, write briefs, outline oral arguments, and keep track of appointments. Org's mobile sync interface is MobileOrg.[3] For devotees of the "hipster PDA",[4] Emacs PIM strategies also work well; the Emacs calendar and Org can both be made to print a LaTeX version of your agenda and appointments which fits on index cards or other small papers suitable for stashing away in a jacket pocket or Moleskine notebook. ;-) > Is it a good calendar? Can you easily collaborate with colleagues who > use Google Calendar? I find Org's agenda combined with the Emacs calendar to be very effective. In the past, it was easier to use Emacs to collaborate with GCal users, because there are several Elisp libraries to interface with the standard iCal API; today this has become more difficult because Google has discontinued its iCal support. The elimination of all third-party Google Calendar clients, the better to attract eyeballs to the web interface, cannot be far behind. My solution for the moment is to use my phone for any Google Calendar stuff (and other non-free API junk). The phone's calendar shows both GCal events with others and my private MobileOrg calendare events. > Is it a good email reader? Does it work with gmail? Respectively, yes[5] and yes.[6] > Is Emacs adapting well to the changing computing landscape? To the extent that the changing computing landscape means that APIs are being eliminated or locked down into walled gardens, Emacs is not adapting and cannot adapt. However, for those users who need a cohesive working environment in which tools behave in a consistent and completely customizable way, without unpleasant surprises, Emacs remains an excellent choice, and never more actively developed than today. Besides the Emacs Wiki, I would commend to you Sacha Chua's blog.[7] Sacha is a former IBMer, Seriously Efficient Person™, and possibly one of the best explainers of Emacs around right now. > Thank you for your attention. Thanks for the question. Footnotes: [1] (info "(emacs) Bookmarks") [2] http://orgmode.org/ [3] http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/mobileorg/ [4] http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda [5] http://gnus.org/ and http://djcbsoftware.nl/code/mu/ are two Emacs mailreaders I particularly like. [6] http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GnusGmail [7] http://sachachua.com/blog/category/emacs/ -- W. Greenhouse gpg --recv-keys 2E8B1B740D2D3F9E Written in Gnus v5.13 on GNU Emacs 24.3.1