对用户而言,Emacs的本质是什么?
于我个人,Emacs 是“心想事成”, Emacs在“心想”与“成事”之间画上了等号。
在Emacs之前,思维中构思做事与具体的实现是两个不同的世界。比如阅读资料,不仅不同格式的word,excel,pdf之间是互相隔绝的孤岛,就算word与word之间也是彼此断绝。Emacs之后,不仅在“心中”所有的信息是单一的整体,在物质的世界中他们也聚合到一处。
同时,也改变了心中思考问题的镜像。以前,躺在床上复盘一天的时候,工作与生活各自为政,不同的情境需要不同的工具。比如想到邮件时候,浮现出来的是windows的outlook,在局限的可视化界面中操作 “邮件,日程 ,日历”。想到第二天的任务的时候,常常导致大脑空转,因为工具太多,而任务可能散落到各种不同的工具中.
久而久之,就会慢慢将“思考”与“实现”分割开来,因为工具的局限性会禁锢大脑的思考能力。
然而,Emacs将“心想”与“成事”融为一体,并完全重塑大脑,甚至任何时候思考问题的时候,大脑里都开着emacs的四个窗口,然后 M-x function 开始操作。
恭祝各位朋友牛年“心想事成”。
附上一段启蒙教材Emacs-Field-Guide这本书的结语:“What‘s best in life?”
My reader, let me repeat the question: the best things in life?
To be sure, we all have our own answers to this question. However, there is one important need that you and I have in common: a need that — when it is met — goes a long way to making us content. We want to work and think at the natural speed of our mind. This is why we become uncomfortable and frustrated when our thought processes are slowed down unnecessarily. When we have a problem to solve or an idea to explore, we want to be able to do it in a way that make sense to us and is enjoyable.
As such, we want computer tools that are powerful enough for the type of work and the type of thinking we enjoy. Tools that were created by smart people for smart people. Tools that will shape our minds in a good way as we use them. Tools we will never outgrow, that we can modify and extend and — when we feel so inclined — share with others. Finally, we want tools that are supported by a larger system that itself has these characteristics, for example, Linux and other types of Unix.
Can you see that I have just described Emacs?
No one is saying that Emacs is the only computer-based set of tools that serves people like us in that way. However, it is one of the few that has met the test of time, and it is one of the best.
True, Emacs is difficult to learn. In fact, it is very difficult to learn, which is why I spent a lot of time in the first part of this book making sure you had a strong foundation, before I even introduced you to your first Emacs commands.
Yes, it is true that Emacs is hard to learn, but it is just as true that, once you learn it, it is easy to use. And more important, Emacs is one of the few computer-based systems that will let you think and create at the natural speed of your own mind.
This is why I wrote this book: to help people like you learn how to use Emacs. As such, I thank you for spending so much time reading and thinking about what I have had to say. I am grateful for the opportunity to teach you, and to help you change your life.