Re: GNU Emacs raison d'etre

[Eduardo Ochs <eduardoochs@gmail.com>]

Maybe we should experiment with changing the line in the startup
screen that says

  To quit a partially entered command, type Control-g.

to make it also mention <ESC> <ESC> <ESC>, and also add links to these
nodes of the Emacs Manual...

  (info "(emacs)Quitting")
  (info "(emacs)Basic Undo")

I just noticed that I don't know where the manual explains that Emacs
makes very hard for users to lose files or text with a single wrong
keystroke.  When I learned GNU/Linux it was somehow obvious that an
editor that allowed that would be considered very rude - but I checked
the definiton of "rude" in the Jargon Dictionary with "dict rude" and
it says just this:

  rude
   adj.

      1. (of a program) Badly written.

      2. Functionally poor, e.g., a program that is very difficult to
      use because of gratuitously poor (random?) design decisions.
      Oppose {cuspy}.

      3. Anything that manipulates a shared resource without regard
      for its other users in such a way as to cause a (non-fatal)
      problem. Examples: programs that change tty modes without
      resetting them on exit, or windowing programs that keep forcing
      themselves to the top of the window stack.

which means that I'm misremembering things.

Here's one easy way (untested!) to experiment with that. If you live
with someone who is learning Emacs, change the function
`fancy-startup-tail' in the file startup.el in the person's computer
and explain to her that you are trying to get a better startup screen
and would like her to test it, stick a post-it to her screen or table
or whatever that says "M-x fancy-startup-screen", and tell her to go
back to the modified startup screen whenever she's lost.

I can't test that because of the quarantine and because I live alone
with Doggy.

  Cheers,
    Eduardo Ochs
    http://angg.twu.net/emacsconf2019.html


On Thu, 28 May 2020 at 01:13, Karl Fogel <kfogel@red-bean.com> wrote:
>
> Sometimes they know that, but it's still stressful for them to have
> to do it.  They don't like the sensation of getting into state
> they don't understand, and then having to type a magical quit-key to
> get out of that state.  It makes them apprehensive about even
> using the editor -- they feel like they got bitten.
>
> (...)
>
> I don't think the issue is ignorance about C-g.  It's that people
> have a relationship with software interfaces in which they're not
> accustomed to being bitten.  Even when the bite draws no blood,
> they still don't like the feeling.
>
> I can see directly that they don't like the feeling, that it's
> upsetting to them.  I conjecture that part of the reason is that
> even if they quickly ascertain that everything's all right this
> time, they still have a (rational) fear that the next time the bite
> might actually cause harm -- e.g., that maybe they'll lose a file,
> or accidentally rename something, or that edits that they don't know
> about will be accidentally made somewhere.
>
> I haven't actually asked new users if that's their worry, but on the
> now-rare occasions when Emacs bites me, I worry about such things.
>  Also, I've been using Emacs long enough to know that most likely
> nothing harmful happened, and that if I patiently unwind the state
> I'll be able to figure it all out.  A newcomer does not have that
> comfort at first, and they can only acquire it through sustained
> exposure to the editor.