[[!meta title="An example of a cohesive student workflow in Emacs"]] [[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2024 Daniel Pinkston"]] [[!inline pages="internal(2024/info/students-nav)" raw="yes"]] # An example of a cohesive student workflow in Emacs Daniel Pinkston (he/him) - IRC: bardman, develop dot bard at-symbol gmail dot com [[!inline pages="internal(2024/info/students-before)" raw="yes"]] Most successful students have a go-to system for staying organized. It might be Notion, Obsidian, a bullet journal, or a simple paper planner. The key is finding what fits your personal needs and style. Here's an interesting option some students might not have considered: Emacs. It's a tool that's popular with Linux people, but possibly overlooked by others. For the right person, it could be a game-changer in managing academic life. This talk is meant to showcase how different Emacs tools integrate with each other to create a cohesive work environment for students. Links: - Denote - the keystone package for my preferred note taking method - Logos - a focus-mode tool for writing - PDF-tools - pdf viewer - Anki-editor - my favorite package for making flashcards in Emacs - Org-fragtog - auto toggles LaTeX fragments in my org documents - Org-download - facilitates quick image addition to org documents - My Emacs configuration - includes not only writing, but programming About the speaker: I am Daniel Pinkston, a high school student (grade 12) interested in Emacs, Linux, programming, and customizable/libre software. I have been using Emacs since 2022, starting with DOOM Emacs. # Discussion ## Questions and answers - Q: I use org-roam for notes and find it very useful - have you considered it? - A: I know about it; started with it, actually. Didn't like the dependancy on an external db, e.g. if using syncthing from a laptop to a desktop. Fair enough. - Q: Do you use the Getting Things Done methodology as part of your Org workflow? - A: I started with org, and then heard about GTD, so I didn't exactly design my workflow with that in mind. - I probably don't do it the exact way. - audience: I can never Get Things Done :-\\ - \ Personally, I just add checkboxes to TODO headings. For example. I scheduled to learn scheme today:  - \* TODO Study Scheme \[0/4\]  - \- \[ \] A Scheme Primer  - \- \[ \] Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs  - \- \[ \] Video lectures of thre previous book  - \- \[ \] The Scheme Programming Language Fourth Edition - And each checkbox is a link to a bibliographic note of the book/video. - Q:org-fc and org-drill are emacs  org mode centric flash card solutions, have you looked into them? - A: Looked into org-drill, but wanted to use Anki because I wanted to use it on my phone, so that demotivated me. - Q:What do other students think about your approach - and what are they doing instead (if anything)? And your teachers - what do they think? - A: Other students are usually just confused. They know I use Linux but they don't know what it is, so they assume that everything I do on my computer is hacking or doing some Linux thing. I don't usually bother explaining it to them. That's one of the reasons I made this talk, so I can refer people who are actually interested in it instead of superficially interested in it. - For my teachers, I think\... I showed them this year for the first time. It didn't really interact where they would see what happens. Export to LaTeX\... I did that for my physics class. My teacher was pretty satisfied with the results for the math programming. I think they don't really have a problem with it. It's actually more convenient. - audience: I'm a teacher and I'd be over the moon. And if I didn't know it yet, I'd be super inspired. I use it with all my students (some complain but the best ones adopt it pretty effortlessly). - Q: What was your biggest source of frustration/friction/confusion when getting started with Emacs? - A: I don't really remember; it somehow just clicked one day. - Q: How did you come across Emacs? What got you into it?+1 - A: I get asked this quite a bit; I have a prepaired answer.  Similar to how I stumbled into Linux.  Saw screen-shots on Reddit, saw video on YouTube (doom cast is what got me really into it). Chat recommended: SystemCrafters' videos; yes, as well as prot's videos about completion and embark.  i would watch videos while washing dishes.  - Q: What the situation with respect to "mobile" use (if ever that's applicable)? (yes, Orgzly\...using that?) - A:  Didn't want to use a paid-app to sync files, didn't need to look into too much because I carry a notebook and usually a laptop.  I've seen others get started with eink tablets, can't attest to how good that is. - Q: Has using emacs led to expanded interest in programming/computer science? (apologies if I forgot from your presentation) (+1; emacs configuration seems like a natural entry-point into learning programming) - A: Emacs is what got me started with lisp specifically, otherwise I might not have looked into it that much other than dabbling with Scheme from the Structures and Interpertations of Computer Science book.  I was into programming before Emacs.  I used vscode then vim, before emacs, but now I've done most of my programming in Emacs. - Q:You mentioned exporting notes, essays, etc. for handing them on to other people. How does interaction with others work in technical terms? We mostly find workflows centered around Microsoft products. How do you manage with that? (+1; now that computers are fully integrated into education, how do you deal with conflicts in terms of the tools and workflows others expect you to use?) - A: ## Notes - Evangelism. We need more of that. Like the quote "Investing in your future". Going to spread this. - \ (This high-schooler is definitely going places!) - \* pizzapal makes note of anki - For creating flash cards entirely from inside Emacs, there's Gnosis: [https://thanosapollo.org/projects/gnosis/](https://thanosapollo.org/projects/gnosis/) - \ i started living in emacs around age 13, this talk is definitely bringing back a lot of memories \^\^ - \ robin: wow! do you remember how you heard the first time about emacs back then? - \ kswiss, hearing about some "linux" thing on the radio and reading some LJ copies -\> my dad bought an old pc from a grad student -\> reading a bunch of those "learn everything about gnu/linux" tomes -\> switch todebian and deciding to try out that Other Editor - \ 👏👏👏 well done! - \ Great talk! Thank you! I'm really going to have to try out some of those packages 😊 - \ 👏 - \ 👏👏 - \ 👏👏👏 - \ 👏👏👏👏 - \ 👏 (i wish i would have discovered emacs also in my school time) - \ 👏👏👏👏👏 - \ Fanstastic talk! I will save the link to the talk for new users of org-mode. - fantastic talk ty - Like the moderator,  too, very upbeat just what I need on this day of drizzle. - Yes, 30-40 years back \*sigh\* - \ I hope I get praised this much by the professors if I'm able to join university 😄 - \ ah bardman is gone, if there are more people with "learning scheme" on their TODO list, there'll be a sicp reading group next year (loosely affiliated with ##transgeeks/#guile-emacs/#systemcrafters), i think daviwil of systemcrafters.net also runs guile scheme courses from time to time - \ privmsg or email me if you want a direct notification, but i'll be mentioning it occasionally in those channels when they're close to starting [[!inline pages="internal(2024/info/students-after)" raw="yes"]] [[!inline pages="internal(2024/info/students-nav)" raw="yes"]]