Brett McCoy wrote: > Shayne O'Connor wrote: > >> too true ... i've gotten the idea from this thread that emacs is a >> really powerful editor, that can do many a thing ... however, i'm too >> busy figuring out how to install/configure programs to actually learn >> how to use it. i mean, there should be *some* parts of linux that are >> "plug-n-play" ... especially a text editor!!!! > > > There are 'plug and play' text editors, like gedit or nano, and they are > excellent for dealing with config files and README docs. But emacs is > more than just a text editor, it's essentially a text-based IDE and can > do some very powerful things that the smaller editors can't. But for > the price of a higher learning curve. Emacs is is still highly > respected even on non-Unix platforms -- many Java IDEs like JBuilder or > Eclipse will let you configure your editor keybindings to the emacs style. > yeah, i get the idea that it's more of a programmer's tool rather than something ordinary users would use. which sort of makes it irrelevant in the context of this discussion (?). > And this is the point we keep coming back to -- for some things, the > simpler 'click and use' software is just what is needed. For other > things, a deeper understanding and bigger learning curve will lead to > more powerful capabilities that the former can't provide. > true. i think one of those linux keywords - "scalability" - should come to the fore here ... most linux audio applications have the potential/power to be "click and usable" for the beginner *as well as* highly configurable in a more advanced/complicated way for the power user. shayne
