Over at Opensource.com, Seth Kenlon an interesting post on 10 tips for getting started with Emacs. There are a couple of items I disagree with but most of the post is good advice.
His first piece of advice is to start with the GUI. This makes sense for almost everyone. The advantage for the n00b is that you have the menus and mouse to help. I’m always ambivalent about that. On the one hand, the menus do help n00bs discover the shortcuts and get things done when they forget a shortcut. On the other hand, they can become a crutch and a habit. One of the ways that Emacs helps me be more productive is that I can do everything from the keyboard. I never use the mouse even though it’s easy with my MacBook Pro’s trackpad so I’m inclined to tell beginners to jump in and learn the shortcuts, using the mouse only when they get stuck and never for things like selecting text. When I started with Emacs, I made heavy use of the Emacs Cheat Sheet and mostly avoided the menus.
Another assertion that I don’t agree with is that it’s all right to “share.” By that he means that it’s fine to use other editors if they fit a particular task better than Emacs. I’ve been through that before and lots of people disagree but using more than one editor would make me crazy because of muscle memory. Plenty of folks assure me that it’s not a problem for them but I am not one of those people.
If you’re new to Emacs, take a look at Kenlon’s post. It’s full of good advice and suggests an attitude of not worrying too much about “the Emacs way” but just start using it and see what works for you.