Suggestions for a setup for newbies
reddit / emacs

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varsderk · 2022-04-28 05:28

I have a friend who wants to get into programming, and I wanted to
make a gentler Emacs for him to start using. Here's what I've made:
[newbie.el](https://github.com/ashton314/newbie.el)

Suggestions? This is primarily for my friend, so his needs trump all
y'all's opinions ;-) but I wouldn't mind some good suggestions.
Anything good that I'm missing? (Aside: "y'all's" is a neat pseudo-
word because it has two apostrophes!)

I recognize a lot of this is taste and semi-subjective, but if there's
something that helped make the learning curve a little gentler, I'd be
happy to hear it.

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Camel-Bulky · 2022-04-28 07:14

I find default setup for backup and autosave files is rather annoying
as it pollutes current directory. So better either completely disable
backups/autosaves or configure Emacs to move them to some discreet
location.

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varsderk · 2022-04-28 13:29

Oh that’s excellent. I’ve had that enabled for so long that I’ve
forgotten about it!

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Horrih · 2022-04-28 13:58

Some more that I find user friendly

(savehist-mode) ; Save history for commands

 (setq isearch-resume-in-command-history 't) ; Use history for isearch
as well

(global-auto-revert-mode) ; Refresh files automatically when modified
from outside emacs


(setq make-backup-files nil) ; Do not use backup files (filename~)

(setq create-lockfiles nil)) ; Do not use lock files (.#filename)

(setq ring-bell-function 'ignore) ; Disable the bell for emacs

(delete-selection-mode 1) ; If text is selected, we expect that typing
will replace the selection

(global-display-line-numbers-mode 't) ; Display line numbers on the
left

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BunnyLushington · 2022-04-28 14:52

I'd suggest leaving the menu bar visible.  It can help a lot with
discoverability.

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00-11 · 2022-04-28 16:53

https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsNewbie