3 ms·

The solution to "this text editor takes too long to start up" is poorly addressed by the solution to "just leave it running in the background all the time".

dokyun 2y ago
It really is not poorly addressed, as it's a reasonable solution to the issue which also brings about it's own benefits. If you have your system configured such that the Emacs server starts up when you log in, by the time you actually start Emacs it will long have already loaded completely. If you actually use your Emacs for several things throughout the day, including but not limited to reading and editing text and documents, then it is likely you will have it always running during that time with several files open, and will find it useful to be using Emacs in the same state it was in the last time you opened it. As an aside, having it running in the background was actually the way the original EMACS that ran on ITS was intended to be used: When you C-x C-c out of it, it does not kill the program, it simply puts it in the background, and the next time you invoke EMACS it brings it back up. This is similar in effect to hitting C-z, then using 'fg' to bring it up again, but this only really works in a terminal. The Emacs server achieves the intended effect better, especially on a graphical display.
iLemming 2y ago
It's not a "solution"; you still need to solve your undesirably slow startup, but if you're having to kill and restart Emacs multiple times a day, something is wrong with your workflow. Normally, Emacs doesn't require restart - for weeks and months in some cases. emacsclient is useful on its own. For example, I use it to edit just about any text, in any input box in any app, delegating the task to Emacs, or when I want to open some URL in Emacs, while browsing a web page in my browser, or to send some selected text to Emacs.
- stackghost 2y ago
  This has strong "you're holding it wrong" energy.
  - iLemming 2y ago
    Well, if you see someone launching a browser, visiting website, then quitting it, and then later launching it again to visit another webpage, you'd tell them it ain't right, no?

dokyun 2y ago

It really is not poorly addressed, as it's a reasonable solution to the issue which also brings about it's own benefits. If you have your system configured such that the Emacs server starts up when you log in, by the time you actually start Emacs it will long have already loaded completely. If you actually use your Emacs for several things throughout the day, including but not limited to reading and editing text and documents, then it is likely you will have it always running during that time with several files open, and will find it useful to be using Emacs in the same state it was in the last time you opened it. As an aside, having it running in the background was actually the way the original EMACS that ran on ITS was intended to be used: When you C-x C-c out of it, it does not kill the program, it simply puts it in the background, and the next time you invoke EMACS it brings it back up. This is similar in effect to hitting C-z, then using 'fg' to bring it up again, but this only really works in a terminal. The Emacs server achieves the intended effect better, especially on a graphical display.

iLemming 2y ago

It's not a "solution"; you still need to solve your undesirably slow startup, but if you're having to kill and restart Emacs multiple times a day, something is wrong with your workflow. Normally, Emacs doesn't require restart - for weeks and months in some cases. emacsclient is useful on its own. For example, I use it to edit just about any text, in any input box in any app, delegating the task to Emacs, or when I want to open some URL in Emacs, while browsing a web page in my browser, or to send some selected text to Emacs.

stackghost 2y ago
This has strong "you're holding it wrong" energy.
- iLemming 2y ago
  Well, if you see someone launching a browser, visiting website, then quitting it, and then later launching it again to visit another webpage, you'd tell them it ain't right, no?