| 16 Jan 2025 |
 DC | my advice would be to focus on learning emacs lisp first | 20:32:51 |
| DC | there are different kinds of emacs lisp programming:
- programming to configure emacs
- programming like emacs-lisp is a proper language
you need to learn to do both of them, but when starting to use emacs, the focus is usually on the first.
| 20:34:03 |
| DC | have you glossed over the emacs, emacs-lisp and emacs-lisp programming manuals? | 20:35:09 |
| DC | (there are three of them) | 20:35:15 |
 spyjetfayed | No I haven't, I have just copied a few Emacs configs around. | 20:35:38 |
| DC | i would recommend familarizing oneself with the table of contents & layout of those resources. | 20:35:57 |
| DC | yeh, definitely start there because that will help you formulate better questions | 20:36:14 |
| DC | the next thing that you need is an "emacs buddy" or a mentor | 20:36:26 |
| DC | someone who can answer questions you have or recommend someone to ask who will likely know the answer | 20:36:50 |
| DC | and preferably, it's someone that you can show your problem/question to IRL. if not, it's someone you can screenshare with. | 20:37:33 |
| spyjetfayed | In reply to @dcunit3d:matrix.org
someone who can answer questions you have or recommend someone to ask who will likely know the answer Can I use the systemcrafters forum for this? | 20:37:49 |
| DC | somewhat, but that's a place where you can ask more open ended questions. forums are a good resource and that's definitely a good one for emacs, guix & FOSS. but you need someone who can respond to your level of experience & your specific configuration, in real time. | 20:38:56 |
| spyjetfayed | OK noted. Thanks a bunch, I have noticed that there is a lot of emphasis on learning emacs-lisp thoroughly. I might have not done that if not for your advice. Thanks again. | 20:40:22 |
| DC | also, places where you can find mentors: Linux groups, Clojure & Common Lisp groups, and this Emacs SF group
https://www.meetup.com/emacs-sf/?eventOrigin=find_page&recSource=group_search&recId=2f4d7894-de6b-49a9-a1b7-a5b6b366d46c&searchId=eeb7abf2-c114-42c7-ad24-f570f61ae529 | 20:41:31 |
| DC | yes, it seems "obvious" ... but it's the obviousness that makes it so easy to assume you've sufficiently compensated for it. | 20:42:41 |
| DC | the people who attend the Emacs SF group are probably too busy to act as mentors, but if you ask, they may be able to help you find one | 20:43:38 |
| DC | that may as well be a meeting of the greybeards, so just keep that in mind. | 20:44:15 |
| DC | they were there when the old magick was written (even the younger ones) | 20:44:55 |
| spyjetfayed | I guess disappointment will be inevitable 😬 | 20:46:23 |
| spyjetfayed | but they shall always be respected. | 20:46:50 |
| DC | what do you want to use Emacs for? | 20:47:12 |
| spyjetfayed | Ide | 20:47:18 |
| DC | is another important question to focus on, since there are many ways to use Emacs. | 20:47:28 |
| spyjetfayed | I'm tired of using vscode | 20:47:32 |
| DC | for mostly a single language, a small set of languages or many languages (at once)? | 20:47:51 |
| DC | another point of dilineation that would change your approach: do you plan on using org-mode? and how much org-mode? e.g. full usage of org-agenda or experimental usage of org-agenda... | 20:48:49 |
| spyjetfayed | Many languages, and I want a cohesive experience.. I used to use Neovim which is great you can customise it get 80% I feel but of late I have reqlized if you want to get over 98% Emacs is the only way. | 20:49:17 |
| DC | keep in mind, that Emacs is a massive exception to the otherwise consistent "one tool does one thing" | 20:50:43 |
| spyjetfayed | In reply to @dcunit3d:matrix.org
another point of dilineation that would change your approach: do you plan on using org-mode? and how much org-mode? e.g. full usage of org-agenda or experimental usage of org-agenda... Yes presently I use Joplin to keep my knowledge base, but it is far from perfect. Org-mode does seem very interesting but I'm still unaware of most of its use cases. | 20:51:03 |
| DC | i don't have experience with emacs | 20:51:14 |
