From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Stefan Monnier Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: Failing to see the allure of Emacs Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:23:24 -0400 Message-ID: References: <1s1veayqka.fsf@xoc2.stanford.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: dough.gmane.org 1273013344 683 80.91.229.12 (4 May 2010 22:49:04 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 22:49:04 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Wed May 05 00:49:03 2010 connect(): No such file or directory Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1O9QvF-0004nn-TM for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Wed, 05 May 2010 00:49:02 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:39150 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1O9QvF-0006RM-AI for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Tue, 04 May 2010 18:49:01 -0400 Original-Path: usenet.stanford.edu!postnews.google.com!news2.google.com!npeer02.iad.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!post02.iad.highwinds-media.com!newsfe22.iad.POSTED!7564ea0f!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.1 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:XwJeihMedmR0vSPCYyHh/fDsL5c= Original-Lines: 18 Original-X-Complaints-To: abuse@UsenetServer.com Original-NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:23:24 UTC Original-Xref: usenet.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:177823 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:73256 Archived-At: > I guess I can't argue with that advice, given that searching the > manual does help. The problem is that I thought I was looking for a > function (something that read/loaded/displayed PDF files), not a > concept. Perhaps I am missing a lot of functionality of emacs which > would be useful, but I've always (up until now) found what I wanted > with apropos. Sometimes I've followed that up with looking in the > manual, but rarely have I needed to. No solution is perfect. Apropos searches the docstrings (which tend to describe the actual code), so it will work well if you know the exact term used inside Emacs to refer to your functionality. But if you happen to use another term, it often fails miserably. The manual writers OTOH make a conscious effort to mention not just the precise term used inside Emacs but also the more generic terms that are related to it. Stefan