Re: emacs mode line suggestions

[Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de>]

Hi, Paul

On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 08:52:14AM +0100, Paul R wrote:
> Hello Alan,

> Alan> There are lots of ways of switching buffers, none objectively the
> Alan> best. You've assumed the axiom of choice in your paragraph above;
> Alan> namely that there is some way of choosing a "best" way for each of
> Alan> the uncountably infinite options in Emacs. You give yourself away
> Alan> with the words "something like". ;-)

> I used this words because any of them would do better than the current
> behaviour. This of course reflect mainly my opinion, but because I have
> some experience at teaching emacs to beginners, I can tell you it is a
> general feeling among them.

The remedy is in your own hands - set up one of these ways (_YOU_ have to
chose it :-) in the .emacsen of the people you teach.  But tell them
you've done so, so that those it irritates can switch to a more pleasant
(for them) way.

My own way is to have the buffers I'm currently looking at each in its
own frame (more or less), and I use F1, F2, ...., F11 to switch to the
corresponding frame.  Other than that, C-x b, C-x 5 b, and occasionally
C-x 4 b do me just fine.  Not everybody would like that, though!

> Of course, you can argue that most student have no critisism and just
> like what the teacher like. That would be a valid point, but I
> honnestly have the feeling that it helps them a lot.

If you were to set up some "better" buffer switching scheme, it would
give you a good opportunity to emphasise to the beginner(s) that
everybody is different (<off-stage>: "I'm not!" ;-) and each user needs
to set up her Emacs to be efficient for _her_.

> I just noticed again than one can switch buffers from the menu. This is
> also an intuitive behaviour for beginners, indeed, but I would prefer
> to give them the right tools to use emacs more easily from the
> keyboard.

C-x b, together with the use of alphanumeric keys, <tab>, <PageUp>, M-n
and M-p?  That doesn't seem all that awkward to me, certainly compared
with the way other bits of software do it.  Could it be you haven't
sussed out all the flexibility of C-x b, or am I missing something
important?

> Regards,

>   Paul

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).