Re: Making Emacs more newbie friendly

["Eli Zaretskii" <eliz@gnu.org>]

> From: PT <mailshield.gg@mailnull.com>
> Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2005 15:23:46 +0100
> 
> On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 12:56:17 +0200, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:
> >
> > Some of the ``cool stuff'' is turned off because the veteran users
> > find it so annoying that they protest vociferously each time someone
> > suggests them to be turned on by default.
> 
> And this is the wrong point of view. I'm a veteran user. I can turn  
> anything off I don't like

That's true, but requiring that veterans make significant changes to
their customizations with each new release is too harsh on them.  They
protest, and we don't want to alienate them.  If you ever maintained a
package with a large user base, you will understand.

> but a newbie cannot turn the useful things on until he gets to know
> emacs better.

I still don't see why you think it's so hard: I mentioned here already
the Options menu, which makes it easy to turn on features we think are
used by many users.

> The problem is they usually give up  
> (at least the ones I met), because they miss the convenience features!

Which convenience features that aren't found under Options are missed?

> I support turning every useful feature on by default.

Me too, but you _are_ aware that the definition of ``useful'' here is
the crux of the problem, right?  What's ``useful'' for one user might
well be ``annoying'' for another.

> I don't really see how a veteran user can find anything annoying.

Well, perhaps you should think again, then.

> I can put some lines into my emacs and I won't see that thing ever
> again.

That's what is annoying.