Does anyone else use #emacs mainly in the terminal, even when you don't have to? I just find it cleaner and simpler, and I don't mind using external apps for pdfs and browsing, etc. What am I missing out on?
Edited 1d ago
nothing if your happy with current workflow, now if your requirements change then thats a different matter
If it's working for you, there's no need to change. You're using #Emacs whether it's in the text terminal or in a GUI.
With that said: You're not getting GUI font handling, Emacs access to the range of fonts and sizes, window management and keyboard commands, built-in document and image rendering, pixel-scale sizing of things, etc.
That's what you're missing; whether you want them is up to you. I would advise spending some time making a good config that shows off the GUI, try it on.
@ntnsndr I use Emacs only in the terminal. I encounter some broken stuff. But it's fine.
Keyboard handling in traditional terminals has limitations, although there are modern terminals that can address this ( https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/keyboard-protocol/ ).
(The main issue I believe is that you might not have all modifiers; I've had some issues due to lack of Super with some plugins. But the Spain keyboard layout causes me more issues :D)
@ntnsndr it is somehow slower on the cli for me. I might be doing something wrong, though.
@ntnsndr I'd like to be "prepared" when using a "dumb" computer and connecting to Emacs remotely (I sometimes do this). Having my tools on terminals is also more "pleasant" to me.
But I understand the advantages of graphical Emacs. But I'm just an irrational human :D
@bignose Sigh, yeah. That's helpful. Because none of those things are why I love using emacs. I love the combo of infinite features with visual minimalism. Whenever I use the GUI it just looks uglier to me.
But I'm still going to try the GUI more and configure it and see if it can persuade me!
@ntnsndr @bignose I'm curious what specifically bothers you about the GUI... I'd bet you could get a minimal-looking GUI #Emacs pretty easily. Have you tried any themes besides the default? Prot's modus themes are a nice place to start, they're built-in.
It's really nice to have more fonts and font sizes, and to be able to display images alongside text. I include a lot of images in my personal org notes, I think I'd miss that if I was forced to switch to terminal Emacs.
@dekks Thank you for this:) Beautifully practical. I have been using/loving emacs for like 20 years, have written several books with it, etc., but still always feel I am a horribly inadequate user and someday need to actually learn it.
i get that feeling too, but until 5 or 6 years ago i only used it for org-mode & 1 or 2 minor prog modes.
there is so much to #emacs that it's easy to feel inadequate but identifying what package would improve your work flow isn't the easiest thing to do.
it's only in the last year that i've started to use use-package & that was due to one of Prot's videos actually showing me what it actually does.
https://www.youtube.com/@protesilaos/videos
Prot does great notes for each video, check the links.
& another great source