Re: Emacs Newbie Info Pages

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>]

> From: Summer Emacs <summeremacs@summerstar.me>
> Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2024 09:45:25 +0200
> Cc: Corwin Brust <corwin@bru.st>,
>  emacs-devel@gnu.org
> 
> > On Sep 13, 2024, at 08:38, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:
> > 
> >> From: Corwin Brust <corwin@bru.st>
> >> Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:29:40 -0500
> >> Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org
> >> 
> >> Would it make sense to have a `emacs-welcome-new-user' mode which
> >> "collects" configuration defaults appropriate for new users and
> >> provides means to enable (and, perhaps, disable) them en masse?
> > 
> > This was discussed in the past (search the archives), but never went
> > anywhere beyond the discussion.  The idea is certainly sensible, but
> > implementing it is a challenge, since different groups of users/usage
> > patterns need different stuff in such a mode.
> 
> Yeah. I’ve been told. The problem with this is the following:
> 
> Premise: Everyone is different. Everyone has different needs.
> 
> Deduction: No tutorial will ever meet the needs of every single person.
> 
> Conclusion: Let’s not do anything.
> 
> Instead, let’s try this:
> 
> Premise: Most people who use Emacs are devs.
> Given: Not everyone who uses Emacs is a dev.
> Deduction: The people who aren’t devs may get lost in the assumptions made in Emacs welcome pages.
> Conclusion: Let’s make a tutorial for people who aren’t devs.
> 
> I think mine sounds better and, maybe with a little luck and a touch of effort, we may get somewhere. =)

I think the "conclusion" you cite above, to do nothing, is not a
conclusion we arrived at.  (I also think it's a bit unfair to claim
that we arrived at such a "conclusion": it almost says we make silly
conclusions here.)  I think instead we acknowledged the problem and
tried to find solutions for it, like trying to identify the meaningful
classes/groups of users, so as to have a dedicated tutorial/mode for
each one of them.

I think a tutorial for people who are not software developers is an
okay solution, but that doesn't make the issue go away: non-developers
are still not a homogeneous group, and the challenge I mentions still
exists, albeit is perhaps smaller.