A holistic introduction to GNU Emacs presented at a FLOSS @ Oxford event. Covers Emacs as a capable, extensible text editor that supports Unicode, graphics, and multiple fonts. Emphasizes the integrated computing environment Emacs provides through Emacs Lisp, enabling consistent workflows across email, agenda, writing, and programming. Discusses the free software philosophy embedded in Emacs, its documentation culture, the steep but rewarding learning curve, and why the long-term investment pays off. The author shares personal experience switching to Emacs in 2019 and contributing packages like modus-themes and denote back to the community.
Table of contents
Table of Contents1 This is a holistic introduction to Emacs2 Emacs as a capable text editor3 Support for Unicode4 Include several fonts on the same page5 Emacs can display graphics alongside text6 Emacs is an extensible text editor7 Extending Emacs creates a community8 The extensibility of Emacs happens live9 My view without the “presentation mode”10 Emacs puts you in control of your computing11 Your control extends to all workflows12 For an integrated computing environment13 Many apps do not combine nicely14 Emacs makes your workflow consistent15 Integrated computing in practice16 Emacs makes integration easier17 Integration gives you emergent properties18 This is plain text that works like a slideshow19 Consistency facilitates productivity20 Consistency remove the cognitive burden21 The consistency of Emacs in action22 Use Emacs Lisp to configure everything23 Learning Emacs Lisp improves the experience24 Emacs embodies software freedom25 The freedom of Emacs helps with learning26 Emacs is not only for programmers27 You benefit from all the Emacs extensions28 Some powerful extensions are built-in29 The documentation culture of Emacs30 Most packages have high quality manuals31 Emacs has a steep learning curve32 Do not skip the manuals33 Adjust your expectations34 Why it is worth learning how to use Emacs35 The initial effort pays off long-term36 Good luck and have fun!Sort: