Re: How can I use emacs on my pc-windows?

[Slackrat]

"@ the Genius® @" <georgethebest AT tiscali PUNTO it> writes:

> How can I use emacs on my pc-windows?
> I need to use emacs to connect on my university account
> I have download emcs for windws.
> First problem:
> Mini buffer not active
> How configure emacs?
> I need to download x-win32?


Well having recently  installed Emacs on both Dos and Linux on a triple
boot portable box, FreeBSD being the third system, I will try to give
you some pointers since I am well aware how frustrating the initial
experience can be:

The file I used was at:
 http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/windows/ 

I took the full binary package: 
emacs-21.3-fullbin-i386.tar.gz

I unpacked the archive [emacs-21.3-fullbin-i386.tar.gz] into c:/bin
which is where all my application files are stored.

'c:/bin' is not a windoze 'default' directory ; in other words you
 must create it, the idea being to isolate yourself as much as
 possible from the junk that windoze puts wherever fancy seems to lead
 it, controlling your own files and letting windoze do whatsoever it
 likes with the rest 

 However, it seems that you can move the unpacked 'emacs-21.3' file
 anywhere you like with no ill effects

In actual fact I used the Linux tar utility to unpack the .tar.gz
file, then zipped it to emacs-21.3.zip before dumping the zipper onto a
windoze drive and unzipping it to c:/bin

Having got thus far, you will naad a configuration file if you are to 
do much with emacs

You might like to copy mine at http://azurservers.com/gnus
or there plenty around the Net if you search for them

The 'emacs' file you will get must be firstly placed in the root of
your windoze boot drive which is most probably c:/

And you will have to edit it to reflect your personal data and
coordinates rather than those that exist in the example files

It must secondly be renamed to '.emacs' ; that is '[point]emacs'

Then if you bring up a DosBox and type 'emacs -f gnus' you should have
the news/mail facility on your screen

As is, Emacs will not be of much use to you: at least one newsgroup is
required. A good one to start with is alt.test.test

So with your mouse, pointing device or keyboard if that is all you
have for navigation, navigate to
Groups-->Subscribe-->SubscribeToAGroup
and enter down in the buffer at the bottom of your screen:
alt.test.test

You then should see the group listed in the main window with a few
posts already in it.

Select the group by hitting enter when your cursor is located on it
and you will be able to see the posts

To test your setup, type 'a' for article, fill in the missing fields
and then Ctrl-c Ctrl-c to send the item

Wait a short while and then hit 'g' for get the news and with any luck
at all you will see your post

Regarding emails specifically, as opposed to newsgroups, there is not
very much difference

However the actual configuration in .emacs will differ depending upon
whether your email is on a POP or IMAP server. I assume that you are
not running your own mailserver here, although my .emacs file is
configured to pull mail from my own local mail spool so you will have
to search for the precise code to suit your mail service's storage
method, or ask again here specifying what type of server you want to
access 

You might also want to start Emacs from a ShortCut or entry in your
Start Menu by setting up an item pointing to your emacs.exe file, in
my example it is c:/bin/emacs-21.3/bin/emacs.exe

Hopefully this will be helpful and you might also want to look at
installing 'erc' later which will bring enable you to IRC as well by
flipping buffers.

[Hmmmm. You might also devise a better SpamTrap since the rules
specifically state that you must use a valid address when sending
mail; the one you are using is liable to cause you some problems]
Good Luck

-- 
Regards,
Slackrat
Bill Henderson
[No _4Q_ for direct email]