newbie .emacs proposal (was Re: RTFM Was: M-x goto-line binding)

[sen_ml]

background

  new users of Emacs may find the default Emacs behavior to be
confusing depending on their computing background.  

  one possible way to address this issue would be to change the
default behavior.  a downside to this idea is that experienced users
who are already comfortable w/ the current defaults will be forced to
change their settings.  another downside is that it may not be
possible to choose a default behavior that will satisfy all or most
inexperienced users because of differing backgrounds.

  however, assuming the default behavior can be changed, in some
cases, dealing w/ changes in default behavior may be trivial, but it
doesn't seem unlikely that in others, dealing w/ such changes will be
complicated.

idea

  why not provide a "newbie" (for lack of a better term) .emacs file
for inexperienced users containing particular settings (w/ good
comments)?  

  this file would not have to be installed into a user's directory by
default, but instead, a message with instructions on how to create it
could be given when Emacs starts up, or perhaps in the tutorial.
indeed, several possible .emacs files could be provided for users to
choose from depending on their backgrounds.

possible settings

  below are some things to consider for a newbie .emacs file.

  -global-font-lock-mode turned on by default

  -column-number-mode turned on by default

  -text-mode turned on by default (in *scratch*?)

  -a setting to tell Emacs to ask for confirmation when quitting

comments?