105 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
105 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
<blockquote>
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<p>
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Sometimes I post updates from people who don't have their own blog. Here's one from Bob Oliver. - Sacha
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</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p>
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This short article sets out why I, as an Emacs newbie, really, really
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love this software. But before I get into that I would like to explain
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my voyage (Note: absence of the 'journey' word) to Emacs.
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</p>
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<p>
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Many moons ago, back in the late seventies / early eighties I was a
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Cobol programmer, a job I loved. As it is with life, circumstances
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change and I moved away from Data Processing, as we called it in olden
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days. This meant I had to get my programming fix using my Sinclair
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Spectrum, which I programmed using their version of BASIC. I learned
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how to build my own, very simple games, and spent many hours playing
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my games and programming more. Then the children came along, the
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Sinclair went into the loft (attic for non-UK readers) and I had
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little or no time for hobbies.
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</p>
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<p>
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Years later, with family grown and flown the nest, the Raspberry Pi
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was released and revised my love of programming. I took to learning C
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and Python - though remain very much at the beginner stage. All very
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enjoyable. This sparked a notion that I might be able to build an app
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and enhance my future pension prospects. To this end I installed xCode
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on my MacBook and also tried VS-Code. Needless to say I have not
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achieved proficiency and have since removed those products from my
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MacBook.
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</p>
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<p>
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I still wanted to enhance my knowledge of C, Python and Bash, and so
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was really pleased when the Raspberry Pi foundation released Raspberry
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O/S Desktop for Mac (apologies if this name is not technically
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correct). This enabled me to re-purpose an old MacBook (circa 2009 and
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no longer supported) as a Linux machine, which got me interesting in
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learning all things Linux. This led to me installing Emacs as my code
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editor. Through reading all things Emacs I discovered org-mode and now
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Emacs is my text editor of choice.
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</p>
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<p>
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As probably most new users to Emacs, I found it a bit confusing at
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first, but did as recommended stuck with it, and I am really glad I
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did.
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</p>
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<div class="outline-2" id="outline-container-org0214b1b">
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<h2 id="org0214b1b">What do I use Emacs for?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-org0214b1b">
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<p>
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A very good question. Short answer is code and text editor.
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</p>
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<ol class="org-ol">
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<li>Writing, compiling, testing and running C programs.</li>
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<li>Writing, testing and running Bash scripts.</li>
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<li>Writing, testing and running Python programs.</li>
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<li>Compiling my, not so, daily journal.</li>
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<li>Using org-mode as my word processor of choice.</li>
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</ol>
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<p>
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The key reason for using org-mode for my journal, was portability and
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long term accessibility. I had used various electronic journals
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before, each with their own proprietary file standards, making me
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concerned that my journal would not be available to my children long
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after I have gone. Also as Linux, and hence org-mode, use plain text
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files I can edit with any text editor on any platform, so can be
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assured that I can move the files as and when I change computers. Also
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as plain text files, they are readily searchable, so I can recall
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memories easily.
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</p>
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<p>
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Finding Emacs and org-mode is probably one of the best things I have
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done since I retired from full-time employment.
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</p>
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<p>
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What next:
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</p>
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<ol class="org-ol">
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<li>Maintain my journal writing.</li>
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<li>Write up my poems in org-mode - I have several going back to my teenage years.</li>
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<li>Develop my writing skills and maybe write a novel.</li>
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<li>Learn how to send and recieve mail through Emacs - I have yet to find a guide that is not too technical / complicated for me.</li>
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</ol>
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<p>
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SO MY MESSAGE IS JOIN THE EMACS AND ORG SOCIETY - YOU WON'T REGRET IT.
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</p>
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<p>
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Bob Oliver
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Essex, England.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div> |