Comments on TUTORIAL (was: [PATCH] updates to TUTORIAL.cn)

[Ruijie Yu]

Ruijie Yu via "Emacs development discussions." <emacs-devel@gnu.org> writes:

> Thanks.  There is also a private mail regarding my patch, so I'll take a
> look at that mail in greater detail and get back to you before we should
> install the patch.

Hello, as mentioned in the sibling thread I sent a few minutes ago, I
have received a private mail regarding my patch on TUTORIAL.cn.  Some of
the comments in that thread concern the quality of
etc/tutorials/TUTORIAL, so I think it warrants a separate subject.

Again, the author of this private mail is on the BCC, and I translated
the comments in square brackets.  I will also quote relevant portions
from the English tutorial for context.

------

>>> lines 28-31; 40
>>> This is a copy of the Emacs tutorial text, customized slightly for
>>> you.  Later on we will instruct you to try various commands to alter
>>> this text.  Don't worry if you change this text before we tell you to;
>>> that is called "editing" and that's what Emacs is for.
>>> ....
>>> It is ok to scroll this text in other ways, if you know how.

>> +这是 Emacs 教程文本的一个经过少量修改的副本。不久后我们会让你尝试不同
>> +的命令来修改此文本。若你在我们提到这些命令前修改了文本，不要担心；这就
>> +叫做“编辑”，而这就是 Emacs 存在的根本原因。
>> +
>> ....
>> +若你知道其他移动文本的方式，也可以在这里试试。
> 这两句话几乎没什么意义.  不如改成说, 请随意在此修改, 这对本教程的实际
> 文件不会造成任何影响, 下次打开时一切照旧.  或者, 干脆什么都不要写, 越
> 短越好 -- 新人甚至会因为 TUTORIAL 的篇幅而放弃学习 Emacs.
>
> [These sentences do not help.  Rather we should say something like,
> "please modify this buffer as you wish, it does not affect the actual
> file."  Or rather, say nothing here because newcomers might stop
> learning Emacs due to the tutorial's size.]

I don't know the answer to this, so I want to know what others think.

-------

>>> lines 475-479
>>> C-_ is an alternative undo command; it works exactly the same as C-/.
>>> On some text terminals, you can omit the shift key when you type C-_.
>>> On some text terminals, typing C-/ actually sends C-_ to Emacs.
>>> Alternatively, C-x u also works exactly like C-/, but is a little less
>>> convenient to type.

>> -C-_ 也是撤销命令；它的作用跟 C-/ 一样，但是它比较容易多次输入。在
>> -某些终端上，输入 C-/ 实际上向 Emacs 发送的是 C-_ 。
>> -另外， C-x u 和 C-/ 完全一样，但是按起来有些麻烦。
>> +C-_ 也是撤销命令；它的作用跟 C-/ 一样，但是它比较容易多次输入。在某些
>> +终端上，你可以不按 shift 键（即 C--）。在某些终端上，输入 C-/ 实际上向
>> +Emacs 发送的是 C-_ 。另外， C-x u 和 C-/ 完全一样，但是按起来有些麻烦。
> "但是按起来有些麻烦" 没有意义, 建议删掉.  或者你说, C-x u 是为了方便记
> 忆 (undo).  这个理由也是 Emacs Reference Manual 上书写的理由.
>
> ["but is a little less convenient to type" has little value.
> Alternatively, we can mention that C-x u helps the user to remember
> the command: u for "undo".  This reason is also mentioned on Emacs
> Reference Manual.]

I found the relevant portion in the manual: it is footnote 1 of (info
"(emacs) Undo").  I think the author is right, in that we should keep
the info and the tutorial consistent in this regard -- that is, in the
tutorial text, instead of mentioning the inconvenience of C-x u, mention
it as an easy-to-remember, mnemonic keybind.

-- 
Best,


RY

[Please note that this mail might go to spam due to some
misconfiguration in my mail server -- still investigating.]