Re: GNU Emacs on GNU/Debian

[Tim X]

>>>>> "Andrei" == Andrei Maxim <acmax@xnet.ro> writes:

 Andrei> Hi group, For starters, I'm quite a newcomer when it comes to
 Andrei> Linux and I'm still in the process of learning the basics and
 Andrei> the tricks of my Debian Woody system.

 Andrei> One of my biggest problems (besides finding a nice display
 Andrei> manager and a good file manager besides Nautilus) is
 Andrei> Emacs. While experimenting with Red Hat 6.x and 7.x and
 Andrei> Mandrake 8.x and even Slackware, I got used to punching
 Andrei> `emacs' and editing files. I even have a Reference Card
 Andrei> printed and glued next to my personal computer. Bottom line
 Andrei> is that I like Emacs a lot.

 Andrei> Right now I am trying Debian and, even if it was a bit scary
 Andrei> at the begining, it worked out fine, except those little yet
 Andrei> nasty problems.

 Andrei> What's wrong with Emacs, you say? Well, I use a 800x600 video
 Andrei> mode and the default Emacs is huge! The fonts are too big and
 Andrei> I have to scroll around to be able to write a whole line!
 Andrei> I've tried using the `-nw' switch to run it in a terminal
 Andrei> window, but my greatest surprize was that the Alt (Meta) key
 Andrei> was gone. If I pressed Alt-x I got an extra x in the
 Andrei> buffer. In X, when I press Alt-`key' all I get is an annoying
 Andrei> beep.

 Andrei> I really liked the `standard' Emacs and I am wondering if
 Andrei> there is a way to make mine look like it.

1. You can change the font size and initial frame (window) size in a
   number of ways under X. I'm running Debian's unstable rlease at
   home and testing release at work and have found them great. Here is
   what I've dont to setup things they way I like them (and help
   collegues who have converted from windows at work).

1. you can set font, colours and numerous other settings in your
   ~/.Xresources file. Here is some examples


Emacs.font: -*-neep alt-medium-r-*-*-*-240-*-*-*-*-*-*
Emacs.Foreground: wheat
Emacs.Background: black
Emacs.pointerColor: white
Emacs.cursorColor: red
Emacs.bitmapIcon: on
Emacs.geometry: 81x28
Emacs.menu.attributeForeground: snow1
Emacs.menu.attributeBackground: darkred
Emacs.menu.attributeHeight: 120
Emacs.menu.attributeWidth: normal
Emacs.menu.attributeWeight: bold
Emacs.scrollBarBackground: midnightblue
Emacs.mode-line.attributeForeground: yellow
Emacs.mode-line.attributeBackground: midnightblue
2. You can set font sizes, colours etc with customize e.g. M-x
customize-face

3. You can set frame parameters by setting default-frame-alist and
   initial-frame-alist. Do a C-h v default-frame-alist to get some
   documentation on this variable.

4. The alt/meta problem is documented in the emacs PROBLEMS file (C-h
   P). I bet your using Debian Woddy. This behavior was fixed in later
   versions. There are a number of ways of fixing this, including
   using an ~/.Xmodmap file etc.

Hope this helps

Tim


-- 
Tim Cross
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