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So, why should you try Emacs in 2024? ... You’ve got a lot of time to kill. Yes, that.

iLemming 3y ago
That is an obscured perspective. Yes, learning a skill takes time. Mastering a tool requires patience and time. Developing intuition, sharpening your instincts and gaining insight takes time. Software development is a multi-faceted discipline. There are many different ways to become good at it. The ultimate goal is not only achieving excellence in productivity but also gaining perspective on remaining happy. The most important medium through which we convey ideas, information, and even emotions is text. Often, programmers place a greater emphasis on the formal language of precise and structured nature of programming languages. They may even become emotionally attached to a single programming language. Notoriously, most people overlook the importance of plain, simple, unstructured text. The value of taming the wild nature of plain text (even before programming languages) is underestimated. Find Graydon Hoare's post "Always bet on text", it's revelatory. There is no equivalent in any other communication technology for the social, communicative, cognitive and reflective complexity of a library full of books or an internet full of postings. Nothing else comes close. One can spend many cycles learning tool after tool, jumping from one to another, newest, shiniest, "most innovative" thing that comes out, in attempt to find the most effective way, most productive way, most delightful way to gain power over text. I myself spent years trying things like Evernote, OneNote, Google Keep, Notion, Workflowy, Apple Notes, Zoho Notebook, and countless other tools. There were always some factors that made me switch. Initially I decided to learn Emacs, thinking it's just another code editor. It took me quite some time to master it to the point that I can now bravely try to implement some wildest ideas. I came for a specific tool for coding, instead, I found a world of incredible possibilities to manage text, any text, not just programming. All my notes, all my writing, my browser history, retrieving YouTube transcriptions, Anki cards, pdf annotations, emails, rss feeds, and of course, coding, all that I do in Emacs. Why? Because it is not only extremely powerful and allows me to be immensely efficient. It also gives me enormous pleasure, allowing me to perform things my way. If frustration could be measured in wasted fiscal expenditure, Emacs would've saved me quite significant amount of money. Yes, that long-term satisfaction and liberating power were not granted to me. I had to spend many hours, days, and months of learning until I felt empowered. But that is a lifetime investment that is unlikely to ever diminish. Even if Emacs itself becomes obsolete, the mindset it helped me develop will remain. I will never be the same again. No other highly specialized tool will sway me to pay for it or waste my time, unless it is as extendable as Emacs. And there's nothing today that comes even close. Anyone who says otherwise either doesn't know the limitations of their tools or is unaware of the capabilities of Emacs.

That is an obscured perspective. Yes, learning a skill takes time. Mastering a tool requires patience and time. Developing intuition, sharpening your instincts and gaining insight takes time. Software development is a multi-faceted discipline. There are many different ways to become good at it. The ultimate goal is not only achieving excellence in productivity but also gaining perspective on remaining happy. The most important medium through which we convey ideas, information, and even emotions is text. Often, programmers place a greater emphasis on the formal language of precise and structured nature of programming languages. They may even become emotionally attached to a single programming language. Notoriously, most people overlook the importance of plain, simple, unstructured text. The value of taming the wild nature of plain text (even before programming languages) is underestimated. Find Graydon Hoare's post "Always bet on text", it's revelatory. There is no equivalent in any other communication technology for the social, communicative, cognitive and reflective complexity of a library full of books or an internet full of postings. Nothing else comes close. One can spend many cycles learning tool after tool, jumping from one to another, newest, shiniest, "most innovative" thing that comes out, in attempt to find the most effective way, most productive way, most delightful way to gain power over text. I myself spent years trying things like Evernote, OneNote, Google Keep, Notion, Workflowy, Apple Notes, Zoho Notebook, and countless other tools. There were always some factors that made me switch. Initially I decided to learn Emacs, thinking it's just another code editor. It took me quite some time to master it to the point that I can now bravely try to implement some wildest ideas. I came for a specific tool for coding, instead, I found a world of incredible possibilities to manage text, any text, not just programming. All my notes, all my writing, my browser history, retrieving YouTube transcriptions, Anki cards, pdf annotations, emails, rss feeds, and of course, coding, all that I do in Emacs. Why? Because it is not only extremely powerful and allows me to be immensely efficient. It also gives me enormous pleasure, allowing me to perform things my way. If frustration could be measured in wasted fiscal expenditure, Emacs would've saved me quite significant amount of money. Yes, that long-term satisfaction and liberating power were not granted to me. I had to spend many hours, days, and months of learning until I felt empowered. But that is a lifetime investment that is unlikely to ever diminish. Even if Emacs itself becomes obsolete, the mindset it helped me develop will remain. I will never be the same again. No other highly specialized tool will sway me to pay for it or waste my time, unless it is as extendable as Emacs. And there's nothing today that comes even close. Anyone who says otherwise either doesn't know the limitations of their tools or is unaware of the capabilities of Emacs.