▲ 204 r/emacs
A warning for new Emacs users
Don't get confused by the word "sexp". That's how Emacs gets young people in.
They come looking for sex, get sucked into endlessly configuring their workflow, and eventually forget what they came for in the first place.
u/slk_g500 — 2 months ago
▲ 84 r/emacs
Emacs as an operating system
For the past month, I have been experimenting with using Emacs as my primary and almost only graphical environment. I wanted to turn on my computer and go directly into Emacs.
Instead of starting GNOME and then launching Emacs, I added a separate GRUB entry that boots into a custom systemd target and starts Emacs directly inside Cage, a minimal Wayland kiosk compositor.
The setup looks roughly like this:
Linux
└── Cage
└── Emacs
It removes conventional application switching, makes external graphical applications less convenient, and introduces some intentional friction around using the browser.
Surprisingly, these limitations have improved my workflow. I moved my terminal usage into Emacs, integrated Notmuch with gptel, changed how I use AI tools, and reduced the amount of rapid context switching between Emacs, the terminal, YouTube, and news sites.
I wrote more about my experience here:
https://slawomir-grochowski.com/posts/07-emacs-as-an-operating-system.html
I would be interested to hear from people using similar Emacs-first setups. Are you running Emacs directly under Sway, Cage, EXWM, or another minimal environment?
u/slk_g500 — 3 months ago
▲ 30 r/emacs
Is there an active Mastodon instance for Emacs and Org mode users?
It looks like both emacs.ch and emacs.social are currently down or no longer maintained.
Is there another active Mastodon instance aimed specifically at Emacs and Org mode users?
I know I could simply join a general FOSS or Linux instance, but it would be nice to find one where Emacs and Org mode are among the main interests of the local community.
Does such an instance currently exist? Where have former emacs.ch or emacs.social users moved?
u/slk_g500 — 3 months ago
▲ 17 r/orgmode
Ideas for clearer Org clock idle resolution prompts?
We are discussing new wording for Org clock idle resolution prompts on the Org mailing list because the current interface is difficult to understand. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?
The screenshot shows the current dialog. It appears when Org detects that a clock was running while you were away from the keyboard and asks how much of that idle time should be kept.
The proposed splash buffer is:
Resolve Idle Clock
Org detected 37 minutes away from the keyboard.
Choose what should count as clocked time:
Lowercase keeps the clock running.
Uppercase stops the clock.
i/q Count all 37 minutes
s/S Count none of it
k/K Count only the first N minutes
t/T Count until a time you enter
g/G You returned N minutes ago
Other actions:
C Cancel this clock
j/J Jump to the clock for manual edits
The proposed expert prompt is:
Clocked in & idle for 37 mins, keep \[i/q all, s/S none, k/K first N, t/T until time, g/G returned N min ago, C cancel, j/J jump\]?
The key bindings and one-key interaction would remain unchanged. Only the wording and presentation would change.
Would this make the choices easier to understand? Do you have suggestions for clearer or shorter wording?
u/slk_g500 — 4 months ago