WEBVTT captioned by sachac, checked by sachac
NOTE Introduction
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Hello everyone, I'm Jacob Boxerman.
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I'm a sophomore at Columbia University
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studying computer science.
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I'm so excited to be here today
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right at the end of EmacsConf 2023.
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So glad to be able to share with everyone today.
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EmacsConf is really the epitome for me
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of sharing and of learning about Emacs.
NOTE Today's talk
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And in my closing keynote
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titled "Sharing Emacs is Caring Emacs,"
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I want to drive that home,
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and I want to make every day
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a day for learning and for sharing in our community.
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I'd like to share my own journey
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of sharing the joy of Emacs
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and convince you that sharing the ways we share
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and how we participate in our Emacs community,
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those are the most important things
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to both grow our community
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and to increase our own personal joy in Emacs.
NOTE My history with Emacs
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My journey of sharing begins with my journey of learning.
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So I'll start by spending a bit of time on that.
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I use Emacs every day for personal organization
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and to-dos -- you know, schoolwork, projects,
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exams, readings. I use Org Mode for that,
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write essays, make presentations like this one.
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I also write in various programming languages
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including Java, C, Python,
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locally and also remotely for projects, classes,
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other responsibilities.
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I really started with Emacs during the pandemic.
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I had tried Emacs before, but at the time
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all I knew it for was `M-x tetris`.
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But then its power and its configurability even then
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especially spoke to me.
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So from those little humble beginnings,
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trying different preconfigured distros,
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I slowly made my way to building
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my own 2000+ line configuration,
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which actually surprisingly has about 70 stars,
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a few watchers, a few forks on GitHub.
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Pretty straightforward.
NOTE Self-exploration vs learning from others
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But what exactly was that learning process like?
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Now, Emacs was such a beast to me at first.
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I was familiar with Python,
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with C, Java, languages like that.
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I was no stranger to the shell configuration,
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anything like that.
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But the absolute infinity of possibility with Emacs
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was a bit overwhelming.
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I find a sentiment in the community
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that exploring on one's own
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was greater than exploring and learning from others.
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And now I see why people say that and it's true in a sense,
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but it might not be fully understood.
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At a certain point, we need to all create our own paths.
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And I think that's just one of the ways Emacs is built.
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The minute possibilities of configurability are so vast,
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it's like a fingerprint or a snowflake --
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there are so many options to create
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a totally unique Emacs experience.
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Of course that can't be found from somebody else --
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It has to come from you.
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Still, building a strong foundation
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is much, much better when we have others.
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Expanding on that foundation is, too, actually.
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My own process started
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with a lot of Googling, blog posts, YouTube, and Reddit.
NOTE Learning process
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I actually found Emacs on YouTube.
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Seeing how other people used it
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was what really convinced me to try it for myself.
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At a certain point when my confidence grew,
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my trial and error became less error and more success.
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I was also able to take what I saw other people do,
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learn from it, and expand, making it my own.
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And through that time, I learned Emacs.
NOTE Emacs learning (not just learning Emacs)
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But I also participated in Emacs learning.
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What's the difference?
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We often discuss the former,
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grappling with key binds, commands.
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But Emacs learning goes beyond these technicalities.
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It's a mindset. It thrives on collaboration.
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It's not a solo endeavor;
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it flourishes best when we do it together.
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This involves collaborating together,
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creating a collaborative mindset,
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sharing effective strategies,
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lifting each other
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through our collective pool of knowledge.
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Together, we contribute to the growth of each member
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within our vibrant community.
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Emacs learning is much, much harder to do alone.
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And I wanted to help with that.
NOTE My YouTube journey
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So this brings me to the second part of my talk,
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my Emacs journey, how I got started
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and where I am today with my YouTube channel,
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my Straightforward Emacs series with nearly 200,000 views.
NOTE Why not just read the manual?
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The Emacs Manual is often pushed
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as the best way to learn Emacs.
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It's an all-encompassing tome.
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And as amazing as I think it is,
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I don't think it's reasonable
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to push the Emacs manual so hard,
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which is something I felt at first.
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It can be really daunting. It's dense.
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There's a lot there.
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It's just a bit too much for a beginner,
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or even someone with a little bit of experience.
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These qualities, I feel,
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apply to many of the Emacs resources we can find out there.
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The best word for them is heavy.
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They look, they feel, they come across as heavy
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regardless of what they may actually be.
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It's not even that people are too lazy,
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or not capable enough (because that's never true).
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It's just a mental block that takes some getting over,
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and that's okay -- so we need other things, too.
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For me, that was video.
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I wanted someone to tell and show me
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what I wanted to know,
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as well as things I didn't even know were possible.
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I realized this once I'd progressed a little further
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in my Emacs journey. I wanted to do my part.
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I care about Emacs. I started to really care about Emacs.
NOTE Why video for Emacs
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So I wanted to share about Emacs.
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So at that point, I refocused my work with Emacs
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beyond just myself. I wanted to help others
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feel the excitement that I did.
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So where did I turn, and why?
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It's so trite, but they say that
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a picture is worth a thousand words.
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So how much is a video worth?
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Everyone learns differently, and that's okay.
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But it's absolutely certain to me
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that you need to see something to believe it.
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So for that, I turned to video.
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And it turns out that seeing is believing.
NOTE Straightforward Emacs
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I made a short video showing off Emacs Org Mode.
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I didn't even have a voiceover.
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That video, less than five minutes long,
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but still incorporating some of my core principles,
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now has over 55,000 views and counting.
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So, something must have been right.
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And the positive reception to that video
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made me want to continue.
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I decided to continue with the videos
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in a series I titled "Straightforward Emacs."
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And I'm asked: who is the target audience
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for Straightforward Emacs? It's me.
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They're the videos I wish I had existed
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when I was figuring out
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Emacs' numerous and wonderful features.
NOTE Challenges and benefits of video
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Video does, I admit, come with its own set of challenges.
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Complaints that video is less accessible, it's valid.
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They're more time consuming, it's valid too.
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It's harder to skim a video than a blog post,
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and referring back can be a little annoying.
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To try and solve this,
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I make video notes available as best I can though.
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It's not perfect. Despite these valid claims,
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I believe video offers a sense of personality
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that written content just can't.
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And that makes it well worth it.
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My first two videos in the series
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received a combined 35,000 views.
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I still get kind comments today
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from viewers thanking me, asking questions.
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So I must have done something right,
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to outweigh those cons of video,
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to outweigh those common complaints.
NOTE Crafting tutorials that work
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What was it? I covered topics that had been done before.
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But I wanted to present them in my way.
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In the way that I knew people would appreciate,
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because it's what I would have appreciated
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when I started my Emacs journey.
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In writing, I navigated towards clarity.
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Crystal clear, step-by-step instructions.
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Fully scripted, recorded in multiple parts and
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spliced together. That allowed me
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to achieve my second goal: no wasted time, or word,
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or thought. I meticulously cut my videos
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to create smooth dialogue.
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I cut out large blocks of typing if not explained.
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Though this does vary video to video.
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Less scripted, more personal video receives less editing.
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Like this talk itself, it's not edited at all.
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And though prerecorded, I wanted to present
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my unfiltered, raw self.
NOTE High-quality and accessible content
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Another goal of mine is high quality and accessible content.
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I speak carefully and I tune my volume,
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making it easier to listen to,
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and improving YouTube's auto-captioning.
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Something I didn't consider at first,
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but was mentioned to me in a comment, was color scheme.
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Now I try to select a scheme
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with good contrast and a readable font.
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Content-wise, I design my tutorials
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to ensure they cater to various skill levels,
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as well as learning preferences.
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My videos assume basic Emacs knowledge
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but not too much more.
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Importantly, they're configuration agnostic.
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However you feel about Emacs' 'distributions',
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Doom, Spacemacs, etc, they're out there,
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and beginners often don't distinguish.
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I admit it can be a bit frustrating to see a Reddit post
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asking a question about unexpected behavior,
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without mention of the fact that they have
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literally thousands of lines of non-standard configuration
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in the form of an Emacs distribution.
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So I do my best to mention different possible keybindings
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a viewer might be using.
NOTE Most crucial aspect of my videos
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There was one thing, though, that turned out to be
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the most crucial part of my videos and series.
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And it's one of the reasons itself for this talk.
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You may have already picked up on it.
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It's the personal aspect. Sharing myself.
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Incorporating relatable examples,
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scenarios that resonate with my audience.
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Seeing personal use cases, examples,
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and demonstrations of real life Emacs use
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is really what began to build a community.
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Because that's the stuff that can jump out of the video
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and into the comments.
NOTE A broadening community
00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:53.199
The idea for this talk started
00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:55.239
as a story of my YouTube journey.
00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:57.539
I wanted to share how I began sharing Emacs
00:09:57.540 --> 00:10:00.959
and why I like it. And I think I've done that.
00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:03.719
Thanks to the EmacsConf organizers, though,
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I started to see a larger vision.
00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:08.259
Each video I made took a lot of effort,
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from research and planning to script writing,
00:10:11.140 --> 00:10:14.399
filming and editing. But those comments made it worth it --
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people saying that straightforward Emacs
00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:17.619
was just what they were looking for,
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and that they appreciated my sharing.
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That's what made me want to continue.
00:10:22.420 --> 00:10:25.699
And what made me want to continue even more
00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:28.499
was the community I was building.
00:10:28.500 --> 00:10:30.099
I'd start to see repeat viewers
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who'd come back for my latest upload.
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It's hard for me to find time to produce videos.
00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:38.419
But whether it was two weeks or four months later
00:10:38.420 --> 00:10:40.259
when I finally got around to uploading,
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those same commenters would be there for me.
00:10:43.280 --> 00:10:47.459
And I found real joy in actively engaging with my audience.
00:10:47.460 --> 00:10:49.499
It was amazing to see how my videos --
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me sharing useful Emacs tips,
00:10:51.260 --> 00:10:55.119
sharing the way I do things -- sparked broader discussions.
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On any chat form out there, there's no doubt
00:10:56.980 --> 00:10:59.719
you'll find some sort of cross discourse.
00:10:59.720 --> 00:11:02.199
I'd see viewers replying to other commenters,
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and my videos were no exception. Seeing how
00:11:04.420 --> 00:11:06.099
my videos sparked conversation,
00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:10.779
debate and further interest was incredible.
NOTE Sharing Emacs
00:11:10.780 --> 00:11:13.999
We've had two amazing days of sharing Emacs,
00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.379
putting ourselves out there, and sharing in a community.
00:11:17.380 --> 00:11:19.059
I want to emphasize how amazing
00:11:19.060 --> 00:11:22.339
a strong community with the right values is,
00:11:22.340 --> 00:11:24.659
and to inspire each and every one of us
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to do our part to strengthen that community.
00:11:27.700 --> 00:11:30.259
The point of my talk isn't to tell you
00:11:30.260 --> 00:11:33.119
to pick up your microphone and produce a YouTube video,
00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:34.559
though that wouldn't hurt.
00:11:34.560 --> 00:11:37.779
We're not all interested in that, and that's okay.
00:11:37.780 --> 00:11:41.059
First, I want everybody to pat themselves on the back
00:11:41.060 --> 00:11:44.139
for the mere fact that we are here together.
00:11:44.140 --> 00:11:48.019
Then let's turn to the potential within our community.
NOTE Platforms
00:11:48.020 --> 00:11:50.139
First, though, I'll briefly note
00:11:50.140 --> 00:11:52.339
that everyone has their opinions about platforms,
00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:53.459
and I'm not here to make judgments,
00:11:53.460 --> 00:11:56.059
but freedom, equity, and accessibility are important,
00:11:56.060 --> 00:11:57.921
but reach is, too.
NOTE Achieving unity
00:11:57.922 --> 00:12:00.539
Regardless of the platform,
00:12:00.540 --> 00:12:02.699
one thing remains certain:
00:12:02.700 --> 00:12:05.399
our strength lies in unity.
00:12:05.400 --> 00:12:08.739
Like any online community, this calls for unique ways
00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:13.779
to come together and share. How can we achieve this unity?
00:12:13.780 --> 00:12:15.099
The key is finding avenues
00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:18.799
where our collective knowledge and our support can flourish,
00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:21.779
while each person can find a place for themselves,
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creating a more connected and empowered Emacs community.
00:12:25.680 --> 00:12:29.099
From uplifting others with positive contributions
00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:31.219
to engaging on platforms like Reddit,
00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:35.199
both idealistic and concrete approaches are really valuable.
00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:36.859
We can continue lively debate
00:12:36.860 --> 00:12:38.899
on community forums and discussion boards,
00:12:38.900 --> 00:12:41.619
encouraging a positive and inclusive atmosphere
00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:44.659
for asking questions and seeking help.
00:12:44.660 --> 00:12:48.259
We can leverage social media platforms to share quick tips,
00:12:48.260 --> 00:12:51.479
tricks, or interesting discoveries related to Emacs.
00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:52.579
Those who enjoy writing
00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:54.859
can contribute to blogs and newsletters,
00:12:54.860 --> 00:12:57.499
sharing personal expertise and experiences
00:12:57.500 --> 00:12:59.239
with a larger audience.
00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:02.959
Let's also not underestimate the value of online video,
00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:05.659
as I've said, and learning platforms too.
00:13:05.660 --> 00:13:07.539
Creating and sharing tutorials
00:13:07.540 --> 00:13:10.259
on platforms like YouTube or educational websites
00:13:10.260 --> 00:13:14.019
addresses specific aspects of Emacs and benefits learners,
00:13:14.020 --> 00:13:17.419
while contributing a personal touch.
00:13:17.420 --> 00:13:20.579
Participating in or organizing Emacs-related courses
00:13:20.580 --> 00:13:22.539
also fosters a structured learning
00:13:22.540 --> 00:13:24.259
environment where there's so much room
00:13:24.260 --> 00:13:26.079
for mentorship and support,
00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:29.999
which is valuable for everyone involved.
NOTE Every contribution is valuable
00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.579
We can also call on our open source [* free software] values
00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:34.939
and focus on collaborative projects,
00:13:34.940 --> 00:13:38.239
from coding projects where we can contribute and learn
00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.019
to building shared documentation and guides
00:13:41.020 --> 00:13:44.339
that compile collective knowledge on specific topics --
00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:46.459
the Emacs Wiki is a great place
00:13:46.460 --> 00:13:49.599
to start and continue that work as well.
00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:51.659
Especially for those who might be less willing
00:13:51.660 --> 00:13:53.099
to put themselves out there,
00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:56.199
it's essential to recognize that every contribution,
00:13:56.200 --> 00:13:59.519
regardless of its scale, adds value to our community.
00:13:59.520 --> 00:14:02.119
Documentation contributions, however small,
00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:04.459
can go a long way. So do translations,
00:14:04.460 --> 00:14:07.379
for those who are able to increase accessibility,
00:14:07.380 --> 00:14:09.539
as well as testing and bug reporting.
00:14:09.540 --> 00:14:11.379
Reporting issues to package maintainers
00:14:11.380 --> 00:14:14.019
in their desired format -- speaking as one myself,
00:14:14.020 --> 00:14:16.819
I appreciate when users give helpful feedback.
00:14:16.820 --> 00:14:20.479
There are options for everybody, big and small.
00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.539
Remember, the strength of our community
00:14:22.540 --> 00:14:25.339
lies in its ability to share, collaborate,
00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:29.379
and learn together. Whether through collaborative projects,
00:14:29.380 --> 00:14:32.899
sharing insights on forums, or leveraging social media,
00:14:32.900 --> 00:14:34.659
by embracing these ideas, we can build
00:14:34.660 --> 00:14:40.299
a more connected and empowered Emacs community.
NOTE Conclusion
00:14:40.300 --> 00:14:43.759
Now Emacs is so very personal.
00:14:43.760 --> 00:14:44.939
Those of us who have our own
00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:47.679
carefully manicured configurations understand --
00:14:47.680 --> 00:14:50.859
Emacs molds to our liking and our person.
00:14:50.860 --> 00:14:53.219
Our configurations and use-cases
00:14:53.220 --> 00:14:56.379
are a reflection of our individuality.
00:14:56.380 --> 00:14:59.319
Nonetheless, the richness of our community
00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:04.619
lies in collaboration, sharing, and learning together.
00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:06.099
There's a lot of talk in the community
00:15:06.100 --> 00:15:09.559
about how to ensure Emacs' longevity.
00:15:09.560 --> 00:15:11.139
I agree it's important.
00:15:11.140 --> 00:15:13.819
We care because of passion, excitement,
00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:16.099
and utility. We want to share
00:15:16.100 --> 00:15:19.259
and we want to have others love what we love.
00:15:19.260 --> 00:15:21.099
We also want a stronger community
00:15:21.100 --> 00:15:23.899
that fosters new innovation.
00:15:23.900 --> 00:15:26.539
I used to buy into complaints I'd read online
00:15:26.540 --> 00:15:29.499
that Emacs' defaults are too unapproachable.
00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:33.419
The default color scheme and the font is unappealing.
00:15:33.420 --> 00:15:35.699
Fix that and people will flock.
00:15:35.700 --> 00:15:37.739
Sounds fair, I'd think.
00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:40.639
Turns out, it's not what we need.
00:15:40.640 --> 00:15:42.679
Emacs is bigger than that.
00:15:42.680 --> 00:15:45.779
What we need is like what we've done here this weekend.
00:15:45.780 --> 00:15:49.659
Like EmacsConf. It's the absolute epitome
00:15:49.660 --> 00:15:53.899
of sharing about and caring about Emacs.
00:15:53.900 --> 00:15:56.859
We are here both working to grow our community,
00:15:56.860 --> 00:16:00.139
and to strengthen what we already have.
00:16:00.140 --> 00:16:02.579
We're here because we find joy in Emacs,
00:16:02.580 --> 00:16:05.859
and that joy is amplified by sharing it
00:16:05.860 --> 00:16:07.679
with and among others.
00:16:07.680 --> 00:16:10.219
So let's continue this journey together,
00:16:10.220 --> 00:16:13.459
navigating Emacs with a spirit of collaboration,
00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:17.259
because in unity, we find not just strength
00:16:17.260 --> 00:16:22.059
but the enduring legacy of a tool that we hold very dear.
00:16:22.060 --> 00:16:23.339
Thank you to everybody here
00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:26.499
for being part of this shared adventure.
00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:34.120
Let's go forth and share, together.
