5 ms·

The documentation does _not_ suck. It it literally the most well documented software in existence, a reason for which it has been used for many different things

by Abhinav2000 5y ago

The documentation does _not_ suck. It it literally the most well documented software in existence, a reason for which it has been used for many different things outside its original purpose of text editing. Yes, it may not be for everyone. But just say that, that it uses certain conventions that are likely outdated for a reasonable set of the population. But you can't say the documentation sucks when you have the below: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/index.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/in... https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/index.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/in...

cge 5y ago
That documentation is thorough does not mean that it is good. If anything, one might argue that Emacs documentation being so extensive while buing built around idiosyncratic conventions makes it worse, not better, for many cases: it means it is even harder for people to actually find relevant parts of the documentation.
- otabdeveloper4 5y ago
  Emacs itself is idiosyncractic. Being cute and using "standard" terminology would just confuse users.
  - Avamander 5y ago
    This must be the funniest way to justify archaic terminology I've seen so far.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
phist_mcgee 5y ago
`You can also type Meta characters using two-character sequences starting with ESC. Thus, you can enter M-a by typing ESC a. You can enter C-M-a (holding down both Ctrl and Alt, then pressing a) by typing ESC C-a. Unlike Meta, ESC is entered as a separate character. You don’t hold down ESC while typing the next character; instead, press ESC and release it, then enter the next character. This feature is useful on certain text terminals where the Meta key does not function reliably.` Taken from: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/User-Input.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Us... I'm really not sure that this counts as 'well documented'.
- BeetleB 5y ago
  How would you phrase it? I find it to be quite clear.
  - mattkrause 5y ago
    Agreed. The paragraph above it explains that Meta is probably the alt key. The terminology itself is kind of a relic from the past (it's gotta be Alt on 99.9% of emacs users' systems), but it's explained very clearly.

cge 5y ago

That documentation is thorough does not mean that it is good. If anything, one might argue that Emacs documentation being so extensive while buing built around idiosyncratic conventions makes it worse, not better, for many cases: it means it is even harder for people to actually find relevant parts of the documentation.

otabdeveloper4 5y ago
Emacs itself is idiosyncractic. Being cute and using "standard" terminology would just confuse users.
- Avamander 5y ago
  This must be the funniest way to justify archaic terminology I've seen so far.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

phist_mcgee 5y ago

`You can also type Meta characters using two-character sequences starting with ESC. Thus, you can enter M-a by typing ESC a. You can enter C-M-a (holding down both Ctrl and Alt, then pressing a) by typing ESC C-a. Unlike Meta, ESC is entered as a separate character. You don’t hold down ESC while typing the next character; instead, press ESC and release it, then enter the next character. This feature is useful on certain text terminals where the Meta key does not function reliably.` Taken from: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/User-Input.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Us... I'm really not sure that this counts as 'well documented'.

BeetleB 5y ago
How would you phrase it? I find it to be quite clear.
- mattkrause 5y ago
  Agreed. The paragraph above it explains that Meta is probably the alt key. The terminology itself is kind of a relic from the past (it's gotta be Alt on 99.9% of emacs users' systems), but it's explained very clearly.