Re: Changes for emacs 28

[Göktuğ Kayaalp]

On 2020-09-13 13:30 +03, tomas@tuxteam.de wrote:
> On a more serious note, what I wanted to point out is that there
> are many forces shaping what is currently perceived as "usage
> friendly". Some of them stem from ergonomy research (which, of
> course, focuses on some population already exposed to software
> "out there", so it's part of a feedback loop), some of it stems
> from some manufacturer's attempt to differentiate itself, to
> grow sales, some of it, even, from a strategy of appealing to
> potential decision takers (who are /not/ those who have to use
> the sofware later).

A lot of that research is pseudo scientific.  E.g. some famous
‘principles’ of UX design are based on academesified opition or
misappropriation of unrelated research.  E.g. see this one [1].  If you
read the ‘scientific’ background to the ‘laws’, what you’ll see is that
some of those are shaky, and some of those are lesser than that.

We should focus on what makes users *stay* with Emacs, and what makes
such a stay comfortable.  While I see no harm in making the first steps
easier---so long as it’s reasonably backwards compatible---, I firmly
believe that Emacs is a piece of software users should come to with a
knowledge of what to expect.  That’s not to mean it should be difficult,
as some are tending to interpret, but that Emacs constitutes a certain
paradigm of computing, and that that’s the main thing it has to offer.

As an example---tho it’s inevitably a single data point---I’ve never
been a user who is unable to figure out how to change the theme or
modify something in Emacs.  But I’ve only came to stick with it when I
uncovered what _actually_ it has to offer, over some keybindings and
random customisation.  It should also be considered how so many users
stick to Emacs despite it’s apparent that they are pretty much aware
that many other editors are way easier than Emacs, for some measure of
easy, and yet they stick to Emacs, despite the unfamiliarity, despite
the supposed difficulty.

We’re asking "why people aren’t coming to Emacs in hordes" too much,
when "why are people using Emacs in the first place" is the more
important one.

[1] https://lawsofux.com/

--
İ. Göktuğ Kayaalp / @cadadr / <https://www.gkayaalp.com/>
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