Making Emacs more friendly to newcomers (was: "Why is emacs so square?")

[Po Lu]

ndame <address@hidden> writes:

> Looks good. These are the changes Emacs needs, so it has a nicer first
> impression for users who come from mainstream tools to give it a try.

I don't think the general goal is for Emacs to imitate popular tools, but
instead to make it a mainstream tool.  To achieve this, we do need to
make Emacs more friendly for newcomers, but we shouldn't erase the
traits that make Emacs unique (such as extreme extensibility and
customizability).

IOW, everything added to make Emacs more friendly should be optional
(but easily discoverable), and should not break backwards-compatiblity with
existing configurations.

Emacs has endured for 40+ years. I doubt that without the Emacsen I
remember using with squeals of delight (Epoch, XEmacs, Emacs 19), and
the various improvements they curtailed that Emacs would still be where
it is now.  Let's help Emacs endure another 40 years.