Re: How to get rid of *GNU Emacs* buffer on start-up?

[Alexey Pustyntsev]

Hi!

Paul R <paul.r.ml@gmail.com> writes:

> On Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:56:22 -0700, Chetan <Chetan.xspam@xspam.sbcglobal.net> 
> said:
> Chetan> It looks like it is difficult to get everyone to agree on what
> Chetan> is needed. Isn't it better to create addons that people can
> Chetan> install if they so desire? That way there is no immediate
> Chetan> change forced onto the users. The addons that are popular can
> Chetan> later be incorporated into main.
>
> Emacs is the most extensible and the most community-extended software
> created ever. This thread is about *defaults*, because defaults drive
> user habits, because defaults are why most people stick to a
> software

I seriously doubt that sticking to highly customizable software is
necessarily based on its defaults. 

> or give up in the first few days, because defaults are the reflect of
> an evolving mindset amongst core developers.

Considering the people that use Emacs, I think the defaults should be
as neutral as possible. Honestly, my first impression of Emacs was
rather unfavourable, but I must admit that was exactly due to my
habits spoiled by MS mainstream software. However, that didn't bar me
from the Emacs users club. Once I started trying to find answers to my
questions in the Emacs documentation, it became more and more evident
how erroneous my conclusion was. So, I think the best approach to
resolve the 'new blood' problem is to focus  on **how and what Emacs
can do for you** (EmacsWiki is doing good job) than on what its
current defaults are. There is no need to worry about the defaults
very much. They may be changed, of course, but, actually, there is no 
problem with them since they are easily customizable. Some people are
just making a storm in a teacup. After all, Emacs is not just an
editor, it's a whole lisp environment.  

-- 
Rgds
Alexey

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