Chris Seberino [2013-07-11 07:45:14 -07:00] wrote:

> I created a .emacs with only these 2 commands...
>
> (shell)
> (previous-buffer)
>
> I was hoping I'd see something else besides the GNU welcome screen
> message. The (shell) ran but the 2nd command didn't seem to. Why?

Emacs init files (~/.emacs or ~/.emacs.d/init.el) are executed quite
early in the start-up process and you don't see the effect of
previous-buffer function call. See info node "(elisp) Startup Summary"
or page
http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Startup-Summary.html
for more info.

If you are trying to start shell buffer the simplest way is probably to
start Emacs with this option:

    emacs -f shell