O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

[Tim Visher]

Is it worth reading if I'm comfortable reading the Info manuals,
especially considering that the latest edition is 2 version old?  I've
heard a number of people who are very comfortable with Info like Yegge
recommend it anyway.  What do you all think?

-- 

In Christ,

Timmy V.

http://burningones.com/
http://five.sentenc.es/ - Spend less time on e-mail

Re: O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

[Richard Fieldsend]

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Hi Tim,
I have both the 2nd and 3rd editions (pink cover is 3rd, 2nd green) and I think that the 3rd edition is actually not as good as the 2nd.  It feels like they have opened out the functionality that they cover, but that the extra content happens at the cost of poorer coverage...

Also, it doesn't cover that much of the new media stuff, ie. no mention of Wiki or Muse.  If you can get hold of a 2nd edition in good nick then I'd recommend it, otherwise a combination of the Emacs Wiki and the info pages should help you in most situations...

Just my opinion of course...

Richard




________________________________
From: Tim Visher <tim.visher@gmail.com>
To: emacs <help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>
Sent: Sunday, 28 February, 2010 15:21:04
Subject: O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

Is it worth reading if I'm comfortable reading the Info manuals,
especially considering that the latest edition is 2 version old?  I've
heard a number of people who are very comfortable with Info like Yegge
recommend it anyway.  What do you all think?

-- 

In Christ,

Timmy V.

http://burningones.com/
http://five.sentenc.es/ - Spend less time on e-mail

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Re: O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

[notbob]

On 2010-02-28, Tim Visher <tim.visher@gmail.com> wrote:
> Is it worth reading if I'm comfortable reading the Info manuals,
> especially considering that the latest edition is 2 version old?  I've
> heard a number of people who are very comfortable with Info like Yegge
> recommend it anyway.  What do you all think?

I've got ver 2 and it helped me 10 yrs ago when I began flirting with
emacs.  It's pretty good if you are a rank newbie with zero emacs
experience.  Much easier to understand than the manual.  OTOH, it's
very limited in its info and even ver 3 is outdated by 6 yrs.  This is
too outdated, IMO.  I'd advise against buying the book unless you can
get it fer $5-10, and then ver 3 only.  Too many good, more
up-to-date, emacs websites can be accessed for free.

nb

Re: O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

[Uwe Siart]

Tim Visher <tim.visher@gmail.com> writes:

> Is it worth reading if I'm comfortable reading the Info manuals,
> especially considering that the latest edition is 2 version old?  I've
> heard a number of people who are very comfortable with Info like Yegge
> recommend it anyway.  What do you all think?

It's a good introduction for newbies giving much more background
information and explanations than the info manuals. The Emacs basics are
not so much version dependent. Experienced users may prefer to get their
information more compact and faster by "C-h <something>".

-- 
Uwe

Re: O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

[Tim X]

Tim Visher <tim.visher@gmail.com> writes:

> Is it worth reading if I'm comfortable reading the Info manuals,
> especially considering that the latest edition is 2 version old?  I've
> heard a number of people who are very comfortable with Info like Yegge
> recommend it anyway.  What do you all think?

If your comfortable with the emacs manual, elisp reference, tutorial and
learning emacs lisp, then I wouldn't bother with it. As you mentioned,
it is quite old. 

On the other hand, if your still having some problems just coming to
grips with how to approach problems using emacs, it might be worth a
read. Its the sort of book I wouldn't buy, but I might borrow it from a
friend or library. 


Tim


-- 
tcross (at) rapttech dot com dot au

Re: O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

[Tim Visher]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts.  It sounds like I probably shouldn't
bother with it.

-- 

In Christ,

Timmy V.

http://burningones.com/
http://five.sentenc.es/ - Spend less time on e-mail

Re: O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

[Richard Riley]

Tim Visher <tim.visher@gmail.com> writes:

> Thanks for everyone's thoughts.  It sounds like I probably shouldn't
> bother with it.

I disagree with the other views.

I found it well written, clear and nice to dip into. Its not a
manual. Thats not its job. It's a usage guide and a "novel" of Emacs
usage.

When you find little snippets in there, which you wont necessarily by
browsing in the info pages IMO, you can then of course use the more
terse info manuals to get more detail.

I think its a good book and worthy of your support. But then a lot of
the value in it is the fact its a real book and not written as a
reference manual.

regards,

r.

Re: O'Reilly's Learning GNU Emacs

[Tim Visher]

On Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 11:44 PM, Richard Riley <rileyrgdev@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Tim Visher <tim.visher@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Thanks for everyone's thoughts.  It sounds like I probably shouldn't
>> bother with it.
>
> I disagree with the other views.
>
> I found it well written, clear and nice to dip into. Its not a
> manual. Thats not its job. It's a usage guide and a "novel" of Emacs
> usage.
>
> When you find little snippets in there, which you wont necessarily by
> browsing in the info pages IMO, you can then of course use the more
> terse info manuals to get more detail.
>
> I think its a good book and worthy of your support. But then a lot of
> the value in it is the fact its a real book and not written as a
> reference manual.

Thanks for the thoughts, Richard.  I think I probably won't spring for
it at the moment but that does give me a little better idea of what
I'd find inside.

-- 

In Christ,

Timmy V.

http://burningones.com/
http://five.sentenc.es/ - Spend less time on e-mail