Re: What are Emacs best uses?

[Emanuel Berg <embe8573@beurling.it.uu.se>]

Jorge <1gato0a@gmail.com> writes:

> What is Emacs really good for?

Everything that has to do with typing: writing, and programming.

> Can you manage your information (todo, grocery list, etc.) and
> sync with a smartphone?  If you can't sync with a smartphone,
> how do you manage the grocery list?

Jorge, there is nothing intelligent or "smart" with hammering on a
device to achieve something that has been done without effort, and
without that device for a hundred years, or more.

> Is it a good calendar?  Can you easily collaborate with
> colleagues who use Google Calendar?

This integration hysteria with one billion totally useless gadgets
has become a total neurosis. It is just a capitalist ploy to make
you buy things. Grown men act like kids in a sweet shot. I can't
stand it. Ask: does this work *for me*? If it doesn't, can I *make
it work, by outworking the opposition*, or should I ditch it
completely? Think for yourself, goddammit! I don't care one bit
what junk other people use, because I trust my own judgement.

I can't say I see any reason to use Emacs as calendar. There are
no advantages compared to having a minimal book pocket calendar in
your jeans, everywhere you go. The only advantage I can think of
is that you can setup your friends' birthdays and such, and you
don't have to do it every year.

> Is it a good email reader?

There are several possible ways to use Emacs to both send and read
mail, and to access Usenet. I use the plain message mode to send
mail, witch is great, as it is accessible with M-x, from anywhere
in Emacs; all the familiar shortcuts from Emacs are there; and,
what you don't like, you can setup/extend yourself with Elisp. To
send Usenet posts, the same Emacs mode is applied. To read Usenet
posts, I use Gnus (the same advantages that I mention for the
message mode applies, for Gnus, and for all Emacs, basically) --
you can check out [1] or gnu.emacs.gnus for more on Gnus. To
*read* mail, I use rmail (not the same as the legacy shell tool).

To write, and receive, emails in Emacs has improved my life
quality beyond belief. Before I set it up, those web GUIs were
killing me, my eyes, and fingers. Now, writing and reading mails
is one of the day's highlights. If you wish to try rmail with a
minimal effort, mail me, and I'll send you a configuration file
that'll have you up and running instantly.

> Does it work with gmail?

It doesn't have anything to do with gmail. It is much better to
have a SW client for mails. That way, you can apply all the CLI
text processing tools -- not only search, but everything else you
never thought of, as you never *could* with a web GUI -- and those
tools operate *directly on the material*.

Only (minor) problem, and disadvantage, is you need to do backups
now and then so not to loose your archive in case your system for
whatever reason has a permanent failure.

> Is Emacs adapting well to the changing computing landscape?

The computer landscape doesn't change that much. It is still the
same Lisp, C, HTML, TCP/IP, etc. It doesn't change with the
editors either. All programmers use either Emacs or vim.

[1] http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/gnus/index.html