Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Chris Willard]

Hello All,

I am thinking about changing to a Mac from Windows and wanted to check
that there are no issues with using org-mode in OS X.

I would like to know what version of Emacs people use (e.g. Aquamacs)
and also if there are any issues using org-mode on a Mac. For example,
I export to PDF frequently so would like to know if I need any other
software for this.

Many thanks,

Chris

Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Alan Schmitt]

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Hello,

On 2015-03-26 13:18, "Chris Willard" <chris@meliser.co.uk> writes:

> I am thinking about changing to a Mac from Windows and wanted to check
> that there are no issues with using org-mode in OS X.

I don't have any issue here.

> I would like to know what version of Emacs people use (e.g. Aquamacs)
> and also if there are any issues using org-mode on a Mac. For example,
> I export to PDF frequently so would like to know if I need any other
> software for this.

I no longer use Aquamacs as it was bundling too many things, so I now
use this version of emacs: https://github.com/railwaycat/emacs-mac-port,
which has great support for retina screens, among other
things. I install it using homebrew (http://brew.sh/), a very convenient
way of installing additional utilities.

Regarding LaTeX, I use MacTex (https://tug.org/mactex/), which is
basically texlive packaged in an installer.

Don't hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions.

Best,

Alan

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Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[John Kitchin]

I did this last summer, and I found no issues. I use an emacs built from
homebrew (see https://github.com/jkitchin/jmax#mac-users). You will need
a LaTeX installation for PDF export. It all works great for me.


Chris Willard writes:

> Hello All,
>
> I am thinking about changing to a Mac from Windows and wanted to check
> that there are no issues with using org-mode in OS X.
>
> I would like to know what version of Emacs people use (e.g. Aquamacs)
> and also if there are any issues using org-mode on a Mac. For example,
> I export to PDF frequently so would like to know if I need any other
> software for this.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Chris

--
Professor John Kitchin
Doherty Hall A207F
Department of Chemical Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
412-268-7803
@johnkitchin
http://kitchingroup.cheme.cmu.edu

Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Bernd Haug]

I'm using the dailies from ELPA, upgrading occasionally.
Works well in the "normal" current Emacs from http://emacsformacosx.com/

I'd have recommended Aquamacs until recently, but the builds from link
above are both more current and stable generally.

For LaTeX, there are many ways to get it such as homebrew; I am quite
happy with MacTeX from https://tug.org/mactex/.

Note that you might have to configure paths for LaTeX in Emacs, if you
start Emacs from the GUI, since changing GUI session environment on
Macs is less than obvious.

Alternatively:

• Configure your path in your user's launchd config so that the whole
session has LaTeX in your path
• Modify your shell environment and just launch Emacs from the shell.
The binary would then be /Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs

Cheers, Bernd

On 26 March 2015 at 14:18, Chris Willard <chris@meliser.co.uk> wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> I am thinking about changing to a Mac from Windows and wanted to check
> that there are no issues with using org-mode in OS X.
>
> I would like to know what version of Emacs people use (e.g. Aquamacs)
> and also if there are any issues using org-mode on a Mac. For example,
> I export to PDF frequently so would like to know if I need any other
> software for this.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>



-- 
Senior Software Engineer

Xaidat GmbH
Wickenburggasse 5
8010 Graz
Austria / Europe

web: http://www.xaidat.com/
phone:  +43-676-845023-706
email:   bernd.haug@xaidat.com

FN 384295s, LG ZRS Graz
UID-Nr. ATU67414611

Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Alan Schmitt]

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On 2015-03-26 14:50, Bernd Haug <bernd.haug@xaidat.com> writes:

> Alternatively:
>
> • Configure your path in your user's launchd config so that the whole
> session has LaTeX in your path
> • Modify your shell environment and just launch Emacs from the shell.
> The binary would then be /Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs

I'm using this nice trick (passed to me by a colleague) that sets the
environment variables and path to be the same in zsh and emacs (launched
From the GUI).

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(let ((vars (split-string-and-unquote (shell-command-to-string ". ~/.zshrc; export") "\n")))
  (mapcar (lambda (X) (let ((var_val (split-string-and-unquote X "=")))
                        (setenv (car var_val) (cadr var_val)))) vars)
  (setq exec-path 
        (append
         (split-string-and-unquote (getenv "PATH") ":")
         exec-path)))
#+end_src

Alan

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Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Rick Frankel]

On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 02:57:40PM +0100, Alan Schmitt wrote:
> On 2015-03-26 14:50, Bernd Haug <bernd.haug@xaidat.com> writes:
>
> I'm using this nice trick (passed to me by a colleague) that sets the
> environment variables and path to be the same in zsh and emacs (launched
> From the GUI).
>
> #+begin_src emacs-lisp
> (let ((vars (split-string-and-unquote (shell-command-to-string ". ~/.zshrc; export") "\n")))
>   (mapcar (lambda (X) (let ((var_val (split-string-and-unquote X "=")))
>                         (setenv (car var_val) (cadr var_val)))) vars)
>   (setq exec-path
>         (append
>          (split-string-and-unquote (getenv "PATH") ":")
>          exec-path)))
> #+end_src

You could also use the `exec-path-from-shell' package, which will set a
specified list of variables (defaults to MANPATH, PATH) from the shell.

rick

Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Mike McLean]

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On Sat, Mar 28, 2015 at 12:26 PM, Rick Frankel <rick@rickster.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 02:57:40PM +0100, Alan Schmitt wrote:
> > On 2015-03-26 14:50, Bernd Haug <bernd.haug@xaidat.com> writes:
> >
> > I'm using this nice trick (passed to me by a colleague) that sets the
> > environment variables and path to be the same in zsh and emacs (launched
> > From the GUI).
> >
> > #+begin_src emacs-lisp
> > (let ((vars (split-string-and-unquote (shell-command-to-string ".
> ~/.zshrc; export") "\n")))
> >   (mapcar (lambda (X) (let ((var_val (split-string-and-unquote X "=")))
> >                         (setenv (car var_val) (cadr var_val)))) vars)
> >   (setq exec-path
> >         (append
> >          (split-string-and-unquote (getenv "PATH") ":")
> >          exec-path)))
> > #+end_src
>
> You could also use the `exec-path-from-shell' package, which will set a
> specified list of variables (defaults to MANPATH, PATH) from the shell.
>

Which is the way I do it also. I have the following in my emacs-init.org
file (that Tangles to my actual Emacs init file)

#+begin_src emacs-lisp :tangle yes
  (add-to-list 'el-get-sources '(:name exec-path-from-shell))
  (let ((exec-path-from-shell.el
"~/.emacs.d/el-get/exec-path-from-shell/exec-path-from-shell.el"))
    (when (file-exists-p exec-path-from-shell.el)
      (load exec-path-from-shell.el)
      (require 'exec-path-from-shell)
      (when (memq window-system '(mac ns))
        (exec-path-from-shell-initialize))))
#+end_src





> rick
>
>

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Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Grant Rettke]

There are no issues.

Use Brew to install the `emacs' recipe. It uses the [GNU build.] It is
the best supported build.

MacTex is the best LaTeX release. Even Brew will tell you so. Download
the DMG yourself; the Brew Cask installer is not guaranteed to choose a
download site close to you.

My configurations for running on OSX are not org specific but might be
valuable to you:
• [https://github.com/grettke/home/blob/master/.emacs.el#L844]
• [https://github.com/grettke/home/blob/master/.emacs.el#L844]
• [https://github.com/grettke/home/blob/master/.emacs.el#L853]
• [https://github.com/grettke/home/blob/master/.emacs.el#L863]


[GNU build.]
https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/blob/master/Library/Formula/emacs.rb#L5

On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 8:18 AM, Chris Willard <chris@meliser.co.uk> wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> I am thinking about changing to a Mac from Windows and wanted to check
> that there are no issues with using org-mode in OS X.
>
> I would like to know what version of Emacs people use (e.g. Aquamacs)
> and also if there are any issues using org-mode on a Mac. For example,
> I export to PDF frequently so would like to know if I need any other
> software for this.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>



-- 
Grant Rettke
gcr@wisdomandwonder.com | http://www.wisdomandwonder.com/
“Wisdom begins in wonder.” --Socrates
((λ (x) (x x)) (λ (x) (x x)))
“Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop
taking it seriously.” --Thompson

Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Bill White]

On Thu Mar 26 2015 at 08:18, "Chris Willard" <chris@meliser.co.uk> wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> I am thinking about changing to a Mac from Windows and wanted to check
> that there are no issues with using org-mode in OS X.
>
> I would like to know what version of Emacs people use (e.g. Aquamacs)
> and also if there are any issues using org-mode on a Mac. For example,
> I export to PDF frequently so would like to know if I need any other
> software for this.

I do this to get emacs on my macbook pro:

,----[ emacs-install ]
| #!/usr/local/bin/bash
| brew update
| brew unlink emacs
| brew uninstall emacs
| brew install emacs --HEAD --use-git-head --cocoa --with-gnutls --with-rsvg --with-imagemagick
| brew linkapps
`----

I don't think I've had any mac-specific problems with orgmode - I use it
every day.  And as others have said, mactex is very nice:
https://tug.org/mactex/

Cheers -

bw
-- 
Bill White . billw@wolfram.com
"No ma'am, we're musicians."

Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Xavier Maillard]

Bill White <billw@wolfram.com> writes:

> On Thu Mar 26 2015 at 08:18, "Chris Willard" <chris@meliser.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> I am thinking about changing to a Mac from Windows and wanted to check
>> that there are no issues with using org-mode in OS X.
>>
>> I would like to know what version of Emacs people use (e.g. Aquamacs)
>> and also if there are any issues using org-mode on a Mac. For example,
>> I export to PDF frequently so would like to know if I need any other
>> software for this.
>
> I do this to get emacs on my macbook pro:
>
> ,----[ emacs-install ]
> | #!/usr/local/bin/bash
> | brew update
> | brew unlink emacs
> | brew uninstall emacs
> | brew install emacs --HEAD --use-git-head --cocoa --with-gnutls --with-rsvg --with-imagemagick
> | brew linkapps
> `----

Great, thank you ! I never looked at the upgrade process of emacs via
brew. That's done (one more TODO marked done :D).

Regards
-- Xavier.

Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[David Mann]

"Chris Willard" <chris@meliser.co.uk> writes:

> Hello All,
>
> I am thinking about changing to a Mac from Windows and wanted to check
> that there are no issues with using org-mode in OS X.
>
> I would like to know what version of Emacs people use (e.g. Aquamacs)
> and also if there are any issues using org-mode on a Mac. For example,
> I export to PDF frequently so would like to know if I need any other
> software for this.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Chris

I have used the Homebrew version of Emacs and more recently have compiled Emacs
from source.  In general the Max OS X version works of Emacs great.  I
had tried Aquamacs in the past, but the configuration is different and
it wasn't worth the hassle.

I did find that graphical dialog boxes from Emacs would crash the
program (not sure if this has been fixed).  I put this in my init file
to fix that:

    (setq use-dialog-box nil))

Finally, org-mode works great (I use the latest version from the git
repository) on the Mac.  There are a couple of conflicts with some Mac
keybindings (I think the control-arrow keys were a problem), but it is
easy to reassign these keys in the Mac system settings or use
alternatives in Emacs.

I had to install an additional program to get PDF generation, but
unfortunately I have forgotten the details.  It was easy though...

David

Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Chris Willard]

Hello All,

Just a quick email to say thanks for all the advice and tips.

Regards,

Chris

Re: Org-Mode and Mac OS X advice

[Mike McLean]

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On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 9:18 AM, Chris Willard <chris@meliser.co.uk> wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> I am thinking about changing to a Mac from Windows and wanted to check
> that there are no issues with using org-mode in OS X.
>

No problems here; including exports to PDF via LaTeX.


>
> I would like to know what version of Emacs people use (e.g. Aquamacs)
> and also if there are any issues using org-mode on a Mac. For example,
> I export to PDF frequently so would like to know if I need any other
> software for this.
>
>
I use native Gnu Emacs from Homebrew. I've alternated between release and
--HEAD in the past; I'm currently using a release version and not the Git
Master.

$ brew info emacs
emacs: stable 24.4 (bottled), devel 24.4-dev, HEAD
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/
/usr/local/Cellar/emacs/24.4 (3922 files, 119M) *
  Built from source with: --cocoa, --with-gnutls
From:
https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/blob/master/Library/Formula/emacs.rb

 I use MacTex for the Tex/LaTeX pieces.



> Many thanks,
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>
>

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