RE: Emacs for new users

[Drew Adams]

> >> > I do not want to see minibuffer inputting become something
> >> > strictly modal that locks you into some restricted dialog.
> >> > Users should be able to go anywhere and
> >> > do pretty much anything while the minibuffer is active.
> >>
> >> I said for new users.
> >
> > I do not want to see the minibuffer becoming like that for 
> > new users either.
> 
> Maybe they would want it though.

Maybe. (How do they know what they want or need wrt _learning Emacs_?)

But is that what we want for them? Who is in a better position to design Emacs
to help new users, new users themselves or people familiar with Emacs (and with
new-user reports)?

Someone with no experience of Emacs might have certain expectations and a
certain idea of text editing. But those expectations and that idea do not
necessarily correspond to what Emacs is or to how best to use Emacs.

Being a newbie is not _only_ about carrying the baggage of your previous
experience. It is also about learning something new. Often it is about
(sometimes even _mainly_ about) shedding preconceptions and changing one's
mental model.

Sure, we need to be aware of baggage newbies might be carrying, but they are for
the most part ignorant of the new things that they will be learning. It is up to
us to design Emacs not only to welcome them but to help them learn about this
new world.

> So I set enable-recursive-minibuffer, press M-x, switch to a new
> frame, press M-x ...

Your question (or comment?) is what, exactly?