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Emacs: a tutorial for beginners

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Software
HowTos

We're all set to put our feet up and wait for Santa to deliver nice presents, but before we do that we have a present for you: an all-encompassing Emacs tutorial that takes you from getting started all the way through customisation and how to use it for different purposes. So, if you're looking for something to do to give you an excuse to avoid festivities around the Christmas tree, read on. And regardless of whether Emacs is your thing or not, we wish you a very merry Christmas and an awesome, Linux-flavoured new year!

First steps

Users moving to Linux from another OS quite understandably try to make themselves at home by hunting for tools with the same look and feel of applications they're used to. For many tasks, though, they would be better off leaving their comfort zone and trying out less familiar applications. Having been inspired by Unix and building directly on the GNU project, Linux comes with its own historical tools, at least for basic tasks. These tools are often superior to and more stable than recent Windows clones.

Unfortunately, many of the traditional GNU tools have the undeserved reputation of being difficult and hostile. A fairer statement is that they need to be learned and understood. For little effort, new and established users of Linux can get more out of their system with old apps.

In the specific area of text editing, many Linux users work with WordPad or Notepad clones, often bemoaning their lack of features. In fact, Linux has two excellent text editors, Emacs and Vi, each with its loyal followers always ready to fight each other in a worthless attempt to establish which one is better. Both are fine programs, and we hope we won't offend the Vi camp by dedicating this tutorial to some of the finer points of Emacs.

The always-on app




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