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Emacs has a lot of selling points, but the keybindings aren't one of them. I spent weeks trying to switch, but ultimately I found the experience frustrating. U

Emacs has a lot of selling points, but the keybindings aren't one of them. I spent weeks trying to switch, but ultimately I found the experience frustrating. UIs follow the same patterns for a reason, it makes it easier for users to adopt the tech. The biggest draw for me was org-mode with org-babel. I've never seen anything else like it

quadrifoliate 6y ago
> Emacs has a lot of selling points, but the keybindings aren't one of them. I find this difficult to understand for people who use the terminal. The keybindings are the exact same for most terminals by default, since they use readline. Want to go to the end of your command? `Ctrl-E`. Want to go to the beginning? `Ctrl-A`. Want to search backwards through history? `Ctrl-R` (same thing you would do while searching backwards through an Emacs buffer). All of these also happen to work everywhere in MacOS. Put your cursor on the URL and press Ctrl-A and Ctrl-E.
- MinusGix 6y ago
  Personally, out of those I've only used Ctrl-R in the terminal. I just use the Home/End keys to navigate to the start/end of lines. I was actually surprised to read that Ctrl-E and Ctrl-A would do that. I usually expect Ctrl-A to select all, and don't really expect anything from Ctrl-E. (Though, I'd be surprised if home/end didn't work in Emacs, I'm just saying I've never used those readline keybinds).
  - morelisp 6y ago
    Home/End should go to the start/end of the file, not the line. Oh you’re a Windows or Linux user? Too bad, now you need to get used to modern key bindings like OS X has.
    - higerordermap 6y ago
      It is not bad. Ctrl+Home, Ctrl+End. Get out of the apple cult.
      - morelisp 6y ago
        I don't use OS X. I do use Emacs. I don't use CUA. HN has trouble with metaphor.
  - BeetleB 6y ago
    > I just use the Home/End keys to navigate to the start/end of lines. If true, my guess is these were added to the shells recently (e.g. last 15 years). When I started using Linux (in the 2000's), these keybindings didn't work. It was Ctrl-A and Ctrl-E. I'd love to do a survey to see how many shell users use these vs Home/End.
    - mgbmtl 6y ago
      I'm pretty sure the number of shell users has grown exponentially in recent years. I wouldn't be surprised if most users wouldn't know them. However, the more one uses the shell, knowing those emacs shortcuts really helps (not just Ctrl+A, but also going forward or back one word). Especially on a show connection.

quadrifoliate 6y ago

> Emacs has a lot of selling points, but the keybindings aren't one of them. I find this difficult to understand for people who use the terminal. The keybindings are the exact same for most terminals by default, since they use readline. Want to go to the end of your command? `Ctrl-E`. Want to go to the beginning? `Ctrl-A`. Want to search backwards through history? `Ctrl-R` (same thing you would do while searching backwards through an Emacs buffer). All of these also happen to work everywhere in MacOS. Put your cursor on the URL and press Ctrl-A and Ctrl-E.

MinusGix 6y ago
Personally, out of those I've only used Ctrl-R in the terminal. I just use the Home/End keys to navigate to the start/end of lines. I was actually surprised to read that Ctrl-E and Ctrl-A would do that. I usually expect Ctrl-A to select all, and don't really expect anything from Ctrl-E. (Though, I'd be surprised if home/end didn't work in Emacs, I'm just saying I've never used those readline keybinds).
- morelisp 6y ago
  Home/End should go to the start/end of the file, not the line. Oh you’re a Windows or Linux user? Too bad, now you need to get used to modern key bindings like OS X has.
  - higerordermap 6y ago
    It is not bad. Ctrl+Home, Ctrl+End. Get out of the apple cult.
    - morelisp 6y ago
      I don't use OS X. I do use Emacs. I don't use CUA. HN has trouble with metaphor.
- BeetleB 6y ago
  > I just use the Home/End keys to navigate to the start/end of lines. If true, my guess is these were added to the shells recently (e.g. last 15 years). When I started using Linux (in the 2000's), these keybindings didn't work. It was Ctrl-A and Ctrl-E. I'd love to do a survey to see how many shell users use these vs Home/End.
  - mgbmtl 6y ago
    I'm pretty sure the number of shell users has grown exponentially in recent years. I wouldn't be surprised if most users wouldn't know them. However, the more one uses the shell, knowing those emacs shortcuts really helps (not just Ctrl+A, but also going forward or back one word). Especially on a show connection.