Re: Emacs learning curve

[Óscar Fuentes]

"Alfred M. Szmidt" <address@hidden> writes:

> Can we please stop with the extravagant claim that new users are not
> attracted to emacs because of some idiosyncratic bindings?

That claim is extravagant indeed. The users are not attracted by the
idiosyncratic keybindings, they are *repelled* by them.

> It is true that there are features thatemacs lacks, or are suboptimal,
> that some popular editors have, but the bindings don't scare anyone.
> Repating that claim won't make it true.

You talk as if we were making up something. My own personal experience
as an Emacs novice (long time ago) as well as while trying to introduce
others to Emacs, plus lots of testimonials on the Internet, had
convinced me that the keybindings are the most serious entry barrier,
except for the cases where the new user lacks a long experience with
editors that follows CUA.

> One should strive for what is sensible and logical, not what is
> currently modern and popular.  The reason people are attached to "the
> old way" is because it makes sense, and it has proven itself over 30
> years.

If there is something in Emacs that is not sensible nor logical, that's
the keybindings. Not only they are different from the current
established ones, they often seem planned with the clear intention
of causing RSI :-)