Re: Could Emacs Have a Set-up Wizard?

[Daniel Fleischer <danflscr@gmail.com>]

Simon Pugnet <simon@polaris64.net> writes:

> I think it's important to expose the user to the nitty-gritty to some
> extent. I envisage the wizard as being a first step into learning Emacs,
> so while it hides the details of how it generates a configuration based
> on the user's choices it will show the generated code in the end. It
> could display the init.el buffer after the wizard is complete and then
> show exactly where this file is saved.
> ...
> Give someone a configuration and they'll be enlightened for a month,
> teach them how to build their own configuration and they'll be
> enlightened for life :)

My opinion is that we shouldn't expect an input from the user; the user
is an Emacs-beginner and she activates the "easy-start/contemporary"
profile and that's it.  Our goal should be (IMO) to have the user use
Emacs for a day, and then a week and then a month.

We're too much inside the Emacs paradigm so we want to introduce
customization into the first interaction of any beginner user but I
think it's not the right way of lowering the bar for new users who
choose to use these profiles.

Of course the profile will be documented and hopefully the user will
learn the meaning of the decisions made in the profile.
-- 

Daniel Fleischer