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> To those familiar with Emacs development - is there a tendency to modernise the UI and generally make it an easier out-of-box experience? The UI feels pretty

by wtbob 10y ago

> To those familiar with Emacs development - is there a tendency to modernise the UI and generally make it an easier out-of-box experience? The UI feels pretty modern to me; it's when I use every other app that I feel crippled. That's not hyperbole, but fact. It'd be wonderful if Firefox gave me the full set of emacs keybindings (not just a few) and a decent language to extend it. It'd be wonderful if desktop environments let me converse with the computer via my keyboard, rather than pointing and grunting like an infant.

erlehmann_ 10y ago
> It'd be wonderful if Firefox gave me the full set of emacs keybindings (not just a few) and a decent language to extend it. I suggest to try the conkeror web browser: http://conkeror.org/ http://conkeror.org/ Conkeror is configured entirely in JavaScript, though, not LISP.
mrob 10y ago
One thing that feels very old-fashioned about Emacs: the cursor acts like a hardware cursor on an old hardware terminal, even in the GUI version. Every modern GUI text editor lets you scroll away from the cursor without moving it. This is convenient if you want to quickly check something else in the file. Emacs will move the cursor so it's always on screen. It has no concept of scrolling without cursor movement.
- ef4 10y ago
  The explanation for that behavior is that instead of a cursor, emacs has a mark and a point. If you want to view something else without losing your place, you can leave the mark behind and then jump back. The main benefit of this is that you get to find the "something else" quickly using the full suite of normal search and movement commands. It's also nice that you can jump through the stack of past marks, not just one.
  - mrob 10y ago
    Instead of a mark and point, it could have a mark and modern cursor. This wouldn't lose any of that functionality and it would be less annoying for people used to modern software.

by wtbob 10y ago

erlehmann_ 10y ago

> It'd be wonderful if Firefox gave me the full set of emacs keybindings (not just a few) and a decent language to extend it. I suggest to try the conkeror web browser: http://conkeror.org/ http://conkeror.org/ Conkeror is configured entirely in JavaScript, though, not LISP.

mrob 10y ago

One thing that feels very old-fashioned about Emacs: the cursor acts like a hardware cursor on an old hardware terminal, even in the GUI version. Every modern GUI text editor lets you scroll away from the cursor without moving it. This is convenient if you want to quickly check something else in the file. Emacs will move the cursor so it's always on screen. It has no concept of scrolling without cursor movement.

ef4 10y ago
The explanation for that behavior is that instead of a cursor, emacs has a mark and a point. If you want to view something else without losing your place, you can leave the mark behind and then jump back. The main benefit of this is that you get to find the "something else" quickly using the full suite of normal search and movement commands. It's also nice that you can jump through the stack of past marks, not just one.
- mrob 10y ago
  Instead of a mark and point, it could have a mark and modern cursor. This wouldn't lose any of that functionality and it would be less annoying for people used to modern software.