diff --git a/_posts/2016-11-03-how-i-started-with-emacs.md b/_posts/2016-11-03-how-i-started-with-emacs.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3cbcf17 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2016-11-03-how-i-started-with-emacs.md @@ -0,0 +1,98 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: "How I started with Emacs" +date: 2016-11-03 09:58:41 +tags: [emacs] +published: true +authon: + name: Gergely Polonkai + email: gergely@polonkai.eu +--- + +Sacha Chua has a nice +[Emacs chat intro](http://sachachua.com/blog/2013/04/emacs-chat-intro/) article +back from 2013. I write this post half because she asks there about my +(OK, anyone’s) first Emacs moments, and half because I plan to do it +for months now. + +I wanted to start using Emacs 6(ish) years ago, and I was like +“C-x what”? (Note that back around 1998, I was among the +people who exited `vi` by killing it from another terminal after a +bunch of tries & fails like +[these](http://osxdaily.com/2014/06/12/how-to-quit-vim/).) + +I tried to come back to Emacs a lot of times. And I mean a *lot*, +about every two months. I suddenly learned what these cryptic key +chord descriptions mean (`C` is for Control and `M` is for +Meta, which is actually Alt), but somehow it +didn’t *click*. I remained a ViM power user with a huge pile of +3rd party plugins. +Then [I found Nyan-macs]({% post_url 2014-09-17-nyanmacs %}), +which converted me to Emacs, and it is final now. Many of my friends +thought I’m just kidding this being the cause, but I’m not. I’m a huge +fan of Nyan cat (did you know there is even a site +called [nyan.cat](http://nyan.cat/)?) and since then I have it in my +mode line: + +![Nyan modeline]({{ site_url }}/images/nyan-modeline.png) + +…in my `eshell` prompt: + +![IMAGE HERE]({{ site_url }}/images/nyan-eshell.png) + +…and I also [zone out](https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ZoneMode) with +Nyan cat: + +![IMAGE HERE]({{ site_url }}/images/nyan-zone.png) + +Now on to more serious stuff. After browsing through all the packages +provided by [ELPA](http://elpa.gnu.org/), I found tons of useful (and +sometimes, less useful) packages, +like +[Helm](https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm/wiki), +[company](http://company-mode.github.io/), +[gtags](https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GnuGlobal) (which introduced +me to GNU Global, removing Exuberant ctags from my +life), +[magit](https://magit.vc/), +[Projectile](http://batsov.com/projectile/), +and [Org](http://orgmode.org/) (OK, it’s actually part of Emacs for a +while, but still). I still use these few, but in a month or two, I +started +to [version control](https://github.com/gergelypolonkai/my-emacs-d) my +`.emacs.d` directory, so I can easily transfer it between my home and +work machine (and for a few weeks now, even to my phone: I’m using +Termux on Android). Then, over these two years I wrote some packages +like [GobGen](https://github.com/gergelypolonkai/gobgen.el), and a +small addon for Calendar +providing +[Hungarian holidays](https://github.com/gergelypolonkai/hungarian-holidays), +and I found a lot more (in no particular +order): +[git-gutter](https://github.com/syohex/emacs-git-gutter), +[multiple-cursors](https://github.com/magnars/multiple-cursors.el), +[origami](https://github.com/gregsexton/origami.el), +[ace-window](https://github.com/abo-abo/ace-window), +[avy](https://github.com/abo-abo/avy), +[beacon](https://github.com/Malabarba/beacon), and a lot more. + +What is more important (to me) is that I started using +the [use-package](https://github.com/jwiegley/use-package) package, +which can automatically download packages that are not installed on my +current local system. Together +with +[auto-package-update](https://github.com/rranelli/auto-package-update.el), +it is *very* practical. + +In addition, I started to follow the blogs of a bunch of Emacs +users/gurus. I’ve already +mentioned [Sacha Chua](http://sachachua.com/). She’s a charming, +cheerful person, writing a lot about Emacs and project management +(among other things). Another one +is [Bozhidar Batsov](http://batsov.com/), who, among other things, had +an initiate to lay down the foundation of +a +[common Elisp coding style](https://github.com/bbatsov/emacs-lisp-style-guide). Another +favourite of mine +is [Endless Parentheses](http://endlessparentheses.com/), whence I got +a lot of ideas. diff --git a/css/style.sass b/css/style.sass index 5321196..a3d6007 100644 --- a/css/style.sass +++ b/css/style.sass @@ -95,6 +95,11 @@ article.post margin-top: .8em margin-bottom: .5em + img + max-width: 900px + margin: 0 auto + display: block + .gist-data max-height: 300px overflow: auto diff --git a/images/nyan-eshell.png b/images/nyan-eshell.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c009fc Binary files /dev/null and b/images/nyan-eshell.png differ diff --git a/images/nyan-modeline.png b/images/nyan-modeline.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e1a62a Binary files /dev/null and b/images/nyan-modeline.png differ diff --git a/images/nyan-zone.png b/images/nyan-zone.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..68052a3 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/nyan-zone.png differ