Re: Using Emacs

[Tim X <timx@nospam.dev.null>]

"Graham Smith" <myotisone@gmail.com> writes:

> I have just discovered Emacs and I now understand why people talk about living in
> Emacs. To help me get a feel for how much of my work I might be able to move into
> Emacs, I wondered if people might be willing to share how much of their work is
> done in Emacs.
>
> I am using  Windows (for the time being at least), and I am not a programmer, but I
> will use Emacs as a front end for R. I am therefore interested in Emacs as a
> writing, information/time management tool etc. I have installed Org.mode and I am
> very impressed with this.
>
> As it is going to need a little bit of thought on how to structure my new Emacs
> world, I would appreciate any examples of how you use Emacs and hints on "best
> practice" with Emacs.
>

I use emacs for 90% of what I have to do (mainly programming and writing
documents). I've not used R, so can't speak to how the emacs mode for R is. I
do make extensive use of auctex, planner mode (for tracking time spent on
projects, notes and personal information management). I also use VM for mail
and GNUS for reading newsgroups. 

My advice would be not to worry too much about how to structure things to begin
with. The best thing to do is just start using it and tweaking the config as
you learn more about emacs and the modes you use most often. Avoid getting into
customizing with elisp too soon and when you do, make sure you use the emacs
help system extensively as the customization you want is probably already in
there somewhere. 

The emacs wiki provides some good information and I'd recommend spending some
time browsing its contents. It will alert you to many features, provide
guidance on customizing the system and provide some useful ideas. Make sure you
do the emacs built-in tutorial as well and browse the emacs info pages. 

Good luck. After a few months, you will likely wonder how you did anything
before moving to emacs - I decided to try it out about 10 years ago - it took
me a couple of tries, but once I got there, I've never looked back.

Tim

-- 
tcross (at) rapttech dot com dot au