path: root/2021/captions/emacsconf-2021-freedom--how-emacs-made-me-appreciate-software-freedom--protesilaos-stavrou--main.vtt

WEBVTT

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Hello EmacsConf! Hello world!

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Today I will talk to you about 

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how Emacs made me appreciate 

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software freedom.

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My name is Protesilaos, also known as "Prot".

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I am joining you from the mountains of Cyprus.

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Cyprus is an island 

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in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

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So let's remove this header 

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from the top of the presentation 

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and proceed with today's talk. 

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In that header, you can find a link

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to my website, protesilaos.com .

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My presentation focuses on the intersection

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between software freedom

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and what we find in the Emacs milieu.

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Here "the Emacs milieu" 

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encompasses two magnitudes:

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(i) the program we use and

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(ii) the diverse, global community of people

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that has grown organically around it.

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I will talk to you about 

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how Emacs made me appreciate

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software freedom

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and helped me exercise it

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to its full potential.

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Personal anecdotes are not 

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the main focus of this talk.

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Rather, they serve the ancillary role 

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of making certain insights more relatable.

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The presentation is theoretical in nature

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and targeted at a general audience.

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No knowledge of programming is required.

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It is assumed, however, 

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that you are familiar 

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with some basic concepts,

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such as the fact that Emacs is extended

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with the Emacs Lisp programming language, 

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or that Emacs is a GNU project 

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that champions end-user software freedom.

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Let's start with a few words about me 

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before elaborating further.

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I was born in Greece in 1988 

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and was raised there.

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As a kid I was not into

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tech-related activities. Not at all.

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All I cared about was playing football

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(association football, also known as soccer) 

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and staying outdoors.

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My formal education is in the humanities

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(or else, the liberal arts).

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I had a career in politics.

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I lived in Brussels, Belgium 

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where I worked at the 

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European Parliament, among others.

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+ After some intense soul-searching, 

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I realised I did not want to be 

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a political operator any more 

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and made radical changes in my life.

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I have since come to terms with the fact 

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that I am a philosopher.

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I am not a programmer.

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Neither by trade nor education.

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I code for leisure.

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I was not tech-savvy until my mid-20s.

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I have been using GNU/Linux distributions

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since the summer of 2016.

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While I switched to Emacs full-time 

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in the summer of 2019.

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Before that switch, I was running

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a bespoke environment

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that involved several standalone programs

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like Vim, Tmux, and a tiling window manager.

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I am the creator and maintainer 

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of the modus-themes package.

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The themes are modus-operandi 

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and modus-vivendi,

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but they are grouped together

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in the package called modus-themes.

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These are designed to conform

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with the highest accessibility standard 

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for legibility, and optionally 

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support the needs of users 

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with red-green colour deficiency

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(deuteranopia, as it is known).

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The themes are built into 

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Emacs version 28 or higher.

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A section of my website 

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is dedicated to them

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as well as to all my other 

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Emacs-related contributions.

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For the remainder of this 40-minute talk,

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I will explain how Emacs 

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made me appreciate software freedom, 

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how it empowers me 

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in my day-to-day computing,

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and the lessons I have drawn 

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from that liberating experience.

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So let's proceed to the body

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of this presentation,

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and the first section is titled:

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"The inherent Emacs qualities 

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for an autodidact."

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Emacs has this reputation 

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of being extremely hard to learn 

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and difficult to get started with.

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So how does someone like me, 

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who was not even tech-literate 

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a few years ago,

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go on to use Emacs effectively?

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How do you start from zero,

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with no knowledge of ELisp

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and with only a rudimentary understanding

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of programming, 

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to eventually maintain packages for Emacs, 

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and even contribute directly to emacs.git

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and other sources?

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The answer to these and related questions

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lies in the very description of Emacs

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as a "self-documenting" piece of software.

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It means that Emacs has a robust Help system 

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which informs you about the state 

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of a given construct.

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Such as what the original and current values

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of a variable are.

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Or whether some function is being "advised",

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as it is known,

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else, dynamically adjusted, 

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by another function,

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and what that advice amounts to.

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The self-documenting nature of Emacs 

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is combined with the fact 

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that it consists of free software.

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Not only do we get information 

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about what Emacs knows, 

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but have the underlying code

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readily available to us.

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For example, every Help buffer 

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provides a link to the source 

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of the item it references.

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We can study that and edit it as we wish.

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Self-documentation and free software 

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are blended together 

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with a third quality of Emacs: 

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its implementation as a Lisp machine,

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or else, its ability to evaluate Lisp code

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and make use of it directly.

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The ubiquity and uniformity 

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of the Lisp interpreter,

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together with the immediacy of its results 

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help one learn how to use Emacs

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and how to write Emacs Lisp expressions.

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For someone who is self-taught like me

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and who often learns through 

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a process of trial and error, 

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this is of great value.

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Learning how to use Emacs 

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and how to write in ELisp 

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is the basic skillset you need

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to also start extending Emacs 

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for your own use, 

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or even for publishing packages 

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and making contributions

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to emacs.git directly.

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That is because the skills you acquire 

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by tinkering with your init.el as a beginner 

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will always stay with you 

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throughout your time as an Emacs user.

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That is empowering in itself.

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It rewards your investment 

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in time and effort.

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The more you learn, 

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the more capable you become 

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to enact change, 

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to configure things to your liking 

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and develop the exact workflow that you want 

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without making any compromises.

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Compare that to, say,

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my tiling window manager.

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I can configure it with a shell script.

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So I learn POSIX shell or, let's say, Bash.

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But my knowledge of the shell

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does not extend to modifying 

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the behaviour of the window manager as such, 

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because that is not implemented 

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as a shell script, 

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but in another language.

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So for an autodidact like me, 

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it is more difficult to learn 

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yet another paradigm

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before I can achieve what I want.

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How do you make that extra step 

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without self-documentation 

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and the immediacy as well as transparency 

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that you get from 

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the Emacs Lisp interpreter?

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It is more demanding,

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which makes Emacs comparatively easier

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when we account for 

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the longer-term effort involved.

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Let's move to the next section:

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"The interconnectedness of the Emacs space."

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As I already mentioned, 

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Emacs rewards you 

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for the investment in time and effort 

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you put into it.

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In my experience, 

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this makes it easier to master

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than a combination 

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of otherwise disparate tools,

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each with its own paradigm 

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of interaction and particularities

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of implementation.

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Before switching to Emacs, 

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I was using a combination 

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of standalone programs 

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as part of a bespoke computing environment 

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that I had pieced together.

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The program called "Mutt" 

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would handle my emails, 

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Newsboat dealt with my RSS feeds, 

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the Music Player Daemon 

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took care of my music collection, 

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while I was doing work

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inside of a terminal emulator 

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which was running a multiplexer (tmux) 

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and Vim for on-the-fly text editing.

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Each of these, and others related to them,

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are fine in their own right.

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But their gestalt, their combined form, 

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leaves something to be desired.

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Their lack of homogeneity 

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meant that I could not develop

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portable skills between them. 

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There is no inter-operability.

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What holds true in Vim

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does not apply to the multiplexer.

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The prevalent methods in the email client 

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cannot be used in the RSS reader, and so on.

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Whereas everything 

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that is implemented in ELisp 

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partakes in the same environment 

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automatically.

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If, say, you know how to 

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use keyboard macros to edit code, 

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you already know how to 

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use the exact same skill to, 

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for example, create and delete windows 

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in a process that involves text editing 

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and some elaborate

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file management operations

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with Emacs's directory editor program, 

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or file manager, Dired. 

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If you have a command 

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that scrolls down half a screen, 

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it immediately works in all your buffers,

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regardless of whether their major mode 

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is about reading emails, editing text, 

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enqueuing songs to a playlist, and so on.

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Emacs provides a level of integration 

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that I consider peerless.

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Everything the user deals with 

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is implemented in ELisp.

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And all the user edits 

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is ultimately done with ELisp.

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As such, the environment itself 

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provides the conditions for drawing

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linkages between different,

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yet [consubstantial], 

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modes of interaction.

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For example, I use bongo.el

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to play back songs 

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from my music collection.

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My ~/Music directory 

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is configured to have a special minor mode, 

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so when I access it with dired,

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it has commands that allow me

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to enqueue albums/songs

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to a playlist, 

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create playlists, et cetera.

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Also, I have an org-capture template 

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which lets me store the details 

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of the currently playing track

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and tag it accordingly.

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Continuing with the example of Bongo, 

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I make it interface

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with my RSS reader, elfeed.el, 

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by having the latter add 

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podcast and video links 

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to the former's playback queue.

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All this is done 

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by simply re-using 

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the same Emacs Lisp skills I learnt 

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while configuring and extending Emacs.

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The interconnectedness of the Emacs space

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empowers the end-user.

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It makes such emergent workflows possible.

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And the best part is

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there are no dirty hacks involved: 

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it is an innate feature of the system.

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You are leveraging the freedom 

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that Emacs gives you 

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in a way that confers agency on you.

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You assume the initiative.

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It gives you confidence 

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to continue honing your skills 

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in anticipation of further optimising---

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and controlling in full---

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your own integrated computing environment.

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Next section:

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the documentation culture 

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of the Emacs community.

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If what I have mentioned thus far 

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was all there was 

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to the Emacs experience,

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there would still be

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something to be desired.

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Because while self-documentation is great, 

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it is meant to draw from---

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and be a complement to---

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some hand-written material.

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Both new and existing users

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must be able to read 

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what something is supposed to do,

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what its main points of entry are, 

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how it relates to other parts, and so on.

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This is about the human aspect of Emacs, 

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the strong documentation culture 

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of its community, 

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rather than an irreducible feature

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of the program we use.

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As a matter of packaging etiquette, 

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every non-trivial form in an Elisp library

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must have a documentation string.

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What a variable or function does

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needs to be spelt out in clear terms.

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Furthermore, the best 

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and most well-maintained packages, 

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whether those are built into Emacs

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or distributed via

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an Emacs Lisp Package Archive,

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also known as ELPA,

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come with their own Info manual.

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Unlike a generic README, 

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those manuals are more like 

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fully fledged books, 

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with a table of contents, cross-references, 

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and indices for concepts, functions, 

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variables, key bindings...

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In short, there is a tradition 

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around programming with Emacs Lisp

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which values informative,

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high-quality guidelines 

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intended for end-users.

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Apart from what

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each individual package does,

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Emacs itself ships with 

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a helpful tutorial for newcomers, 

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a comprehensive manual, 

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a book targeted at non-programmers 

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titled "An Introduction to

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Programming in Emacs Lisp",

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as well as a reference manual 

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for Emacs Lisp itself.

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All this material, 

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all that wealth of knowledge, 

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is readily available to the end-user

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through the built-in Info reader.

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The details on how to access the Info reader

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are already explained 

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in the initial learn-by-doing tutorial.

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For people like me who are self-taught, 

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the documentation culture of the community

16:51.408 --> 16:55.600
ensures that we are not left behind.

16:55.600 --> 16:56.840
It gives us the chance 

16:56.840 --> 16:59.011
to learn from the experts

16:59.011 --> 17:03.639
and to become better ourselves.

17:03.639 --> 17:06.340
Writing concise and clear documentation 

17:06.340 --> 17:09.474
is also beneficial for those who do it: 

17:09.474 --> 17:10.707
it helps them clarify their ideas

17:10.707 --> 17:17.250
and improve their communication skills.

17:17.250 --> 17:19.868
These contribute to fostering 

17:19.868 --> 17:22.399
a more humane social element.

17:22.399 --> 17:25.774
In my experience, the Emacs community 

17:25.774 --> 17:30.646
has a propensity against

17:30.646 --> 17:32.149
becoming elitist.

17:32.149 --> 17:34.907
It helps integrate new members 

17:34.907 --> 17:37.732
by not hiding anything from them,

17:37.732 --> 17:39.040
on top of Emacs' inherent 

17:39.040 --> 17:43.470
emancipatory qualities, as described before

17:43.470 --> 17:46.374
(self-documentation, Elisp interpreter,

17:46.374 --> 17:47.960
free software).

17:47.960 --> 17:49.807
At the same time, 

17:49.807 --> 17:52.899
the community strives for excellence,

17:52.899 --> 17:54.840
so it expects newcomers

17:54.840 --> 17:56.940
to do their part in reading

17:56.940 --> 18:00.680
what is generously offered to them.

18:00.680 --> 18:01.940
There is a difference between 

18:01.940 --> 18:03.240
sharing knowledge

18:03.240 --> 18:06.740
and spoon-feeding it to users.

18:06.740 --> 18:09.140
The latter method, that of spoon-feeding, 

18:09.140 --> 18:11.499
keeps users dependent on it

18:11.499 --> 18:14.574
and is thus detrimental to them

18:14.574 --> 18:15.940
in the long run.

18:15.940 --> 18:18.374
The Emacs community 

18:18.374 --> 18:20.507
disseminates what it knows

18:20.507 --> 18:23.974
and wants newcomers to assume agency

18:23.974 --> 18:26.907
and be responsible for doing their part

18:26.907 --> 18:30.740
in learning how things work.

18:30.740 --> 18:33.307
The community's documentation culture

18:33.307 --> 18:36.074
and uncompromising standards 

18:36.074 --> 18:37.674
ensure that even

18:37.674 --> 18:41.174
once-unskilled users like me

18:41.174 --> 18:43.707
can become productive with Emacs

18:43.707 --> 18:46.574
and unleash its full potential.

18:46.574 --> 18:50.488
What newcomers need is commitment 

18:50.488 --> 00:18:55.039
and an open mind to study what they have.

18:55.040 --> 18:58.269
Next section:

18:58.269 --> 18:59.707
"The Promethean Ideal 

18:59.707 --> 19:05.230
of freeing know-how and expertise."

19:05.230 --> 19:06.807
The documentation culture 

19:06.807 --> 19:08.074
of the Emacs community 

19:08.074 --> 19:10.307
springs from a consideration 

19:10.307 --> 19:12.840
of practicality.

19:12.840 --> 19:15.351
When you explain what your program does,

19:15.351 --> 19:16.505
it is more likely 

19:16.505 --> 19:19.477
that others will show interest in it 

19:19.477 --> 19:22.450
and incorporate it in their workflow,

19:22.450 --> 19:24.674
whereas freed source code 

19:24.674 --> 19:26.085
that is distributed

19:26.085 --> 19:29.309
without any accompanying documentation 

19:29.309 --> 19:32.300
will most likely only attract 

19:32.300 --> 19:35.690
a handful of enthusiastic hackers.

19:35.690 --> 19:39.460
Still good, but could be better.

19:39.460 --> 19:41.640
Apart from its practical use though, 

19:41.640 --> 19:44.407
writing documentation for the end-user 

19:44.407 --> 19:47.140
shows a spirit of altruism, 

19:47.140 --> 19:50.274
an ethos of caring for others 

19:50.274 --> 19:52.540
and wanting to empower them 

19:52.540 --> 19:55.130
in their endeavours.

19:55.130 --> 19:57.774
It essentially is the same

19:57.774 --> 19:58.674
as helping someone; 

19:58.674 --> 20:02.607
helping them escape from the ignorance

20:02.607 --> 20:03.907
that contributes

20:03.907 --> 20:07.810
to their sense of powerlessness.

20:07.810 --> 20:09.974
I experienced this myself:

20:09.974 --> 20:12.007
by reading the docs, 

20:12.007 --> 20:13.450
I was able to go from

20:13.450 --> 20:15.274
an unskilled rookie 

20:15.274 --> 20:17.909
to a competent Emacs user.

20:17.909 --> 20:20.839
Part of that competence consists in 

20:20.839 --> 20:23.037
maintaining Elisp packages 

20:23.037 --> 20:25.480
and contributing code directly

20:25.480 --> 20:28.760
to emacs.git.

20:28.760 --> 20:29.740
Writing documentation

20:29.740 --> 20:31.207
is about disseminating 

20:31.207 --> 20:34.015
knowledge and expertise,

20:34.015 --> 20:36.707
not keeping it an exclusive right 

20:36.707 --> 20:39.919
of some elite.

20:39.919 --> 20:42.928
Allow me then to liken this 

20:42.928 --> 20:47.120
to the ancient Greek myth of Prometheas

20:47.120 --> 20:48.559
(Prometheus).

20:48.559 --> 20:52.972
Prometheas was a titan, or else a deity, 

20:52.972 --> 20:54.988
who decided to teach 

20:54.988 --> 20:57.772
the know-how of handling fire

20:57.772 --> 20:59.020
to humanity.

20:59.020 --> 21:00.447
The art of fire 

21:00.447 --> 21:04.192
is an allegory about know-how in general, 

21:04.192 --> 21:06.840
not specifically pyrotechnics.

21:06.840 --> 21:11.571
So Prometheas liberated that key knowledge

21:11.571 --> 21:13.215
by taking it away 

21:13.215 --> 21:16.231
from the exclusivity of the gods 

21:16.231 --> 21:17.693
and bringing it 

21:17.693 --> 21:21.512
into the domain of humankind 

21:21.512 --> 21:24.390
as a libre resource.

21:24.390 --> 21:26.507
This act of altruism 

21:26.507 --> 21:30.029
propelled humanity to new heights.

21:30.029 --> 21:32.590
Every field of expertise 

21:32.590 --> 21:35.255
is about handling "fire", 

21:35.255 --> 21:38.681
in the figurative sense 

21:38.681 --> 21:43.679
of implementing essential know-how.

21:43.679 --> 21:47.123
Why would Prometheas, an exalted being, 

21:47.123 --> 21:48.586
ever bother with 

21:48.586 --> 21:52.250
the fallible and frail humanity?

21:52.250 --> 21:56.007
Why did a god want to empower humans

21:56.007 --> 22:00.077
instead of, say, making them dependent

22:00.077 --> 22:02.970
on the know-how of "fire"?

22:02.970 --> 22:05.747
If we look at the world around us, 

22:05.747 --> 22:07.970
we witness how its overlords

22:07.970 --> 22:10.186
are unscrupulously trying

22:10.186 --> 22:12.274
to enclose the commons 

22:12.274 --> 22:16.076
and take advantage of expertise 

22:16.076 --> 22:18.809
in order to exploit us.

22:18.809 --> 22:22.700
Why would Prometheas not do the same thing

22:22.700 --> 22:27.570
and enslave us for the rest of eternity?

22:27.570 --> 22:29.343
The answer is that 

22:29.343 --> 22:32.891
unlike this world's aspiring tyrants, 

22:32.891 --> 22:36.842
Prometheas represents a higher conscience, 

22:36.842 --> 22:40.640
one that is not corrupted by egocentrism

22:40.640 --> 22:45.510
and the greed of short-term profiteering.

22:45.510 --> 22:47.490
This higher conscience 

22:47.490 --> 22:50.332
makes sense of the bigger picture

22:50.332 --> 22:51.710
and can foresee

22:51.710 --> 22:54.260
that the distribution of know-how 

22:54.260 --> 22:56.960
empowers those who access it freely 

22:56.960 --> 23:00.530
to reach their potential.

23:00.530 --> 23:04.650
It is no coincidence that the ancient sages

23:04.650 --> 23:09.320
used the name "Prometheas", 

23:09.320 --> 23:16.659
meaning the "prescient one", the "foreseer".

23:16.659 --> 23:19.765
This is a lesson on the outlook 

23:19.765 --> 23:21.791
we ought to maintain, 

23:21.791 --> 23:25.330
where we aspire to our highest.

23:25.330 --> 23:28.501
We want to be the best version of ourselves,

23:28.501 --> 23:31.710
by being more like Prometheas.

23:31.710 --> 23:33.940
We want our actions to be guided 

23:33.940 --> 23:36.674
by this Promethean Ideal

23:36.674 --> 23:39.097
of liberating know-how,

23:39.097 --> 23:42.307
of making expertise readily available, 

23:42.307 --> 23:44.507
and of providing others

23:44.507 --> 23:48.350
with the chance to prosper.

23:48.350 --> 23:49.927
When we all do so, 

23:49.927 --> 23:52.500
we are collectively better-off.

23:52.500 --> 23:56.340
Free software is a microcosm 

23:56.340 --> 00:23:59.528
of that principle.

23:59.529 --> 24:02.940
So let's move on to the next section:

24:02.940 --> 24:08.020
"The 'killer apps' of Emacs."

24:08.020 --> 24:10.860
Let's be a bit more practical now.

24:10.860 --> 24:13.789
Many new users are attracted to Emacs

24:13.789 --> 24:16.066
because it has one or a few 

24:16.066 --> 24:18.858
immensely useful applications 

24:18.858 --> 24:21.000
they would like to use.

24:21.000 --> 24:23.019
This typically covers Org 

24:23.019 --> 24:27.090
and/or one of its numerous accoutrements,

24:27.090 --> 24:33.023
though there are other excellent packages

24:33.023 --> 24:34.760
like Magit.

24:34.760 --> 24:36.107
The fact that Emacs has 

24:36.107 --> 24:38.870
such killer apps is good.

24:38.870 --> 24:41.535
It shows that its extensibility

24:41.535 --> 24:44.200
is not some theoretical upside

24:44.200 --> 24:46.340
of the Lisp interpreter.

24:46.340 --> 24:49.816
It has tangible utility to a wide user base,

24:49.816 --> 24:51.940
including those who do not 

24:51.940 --> 24:54.850
write Elisp themselves.

24:54.850 --> 24:57.927
Furthermore, those killer apps are good

24:57.927 --> 25:00.418
as they help bring newcomers 

25:00.418 --> 25:04.370
and potential contributors to the fold,

25:04.370 --> 25:06.968
while they provide real value 

25:06.968 --> 25:10.519
to the existing members of the community.

25:10.519 --> 25:12.339
The more people we have

25:12.339 --> 25:15.330
and the happier they are with Emacs, 

25:15.330 --> 25:18.726
the higher the chances that we receive 

25:18.726 --> 25:21.600
some new ideas or code from them.

25:21.600 --> 25:26.305
The notion of a killer app does, however,

25:26.305 --> 25:29.519
come with a latent downside

25:29.519 --> 25:32.040
when targeted at outsiders

25:32.040 --> 25:34.470
to the Emacs milieu.

25:34.470 --> 25:36.307
And that is because 

25:36.307 --> 25:39.362
packages like Org and Magit

25:39.362 --> 25:42.000
do not have a standalone presence.

25:42.000 --> 25:46.770
They are always used in Emacs or, rather, 

25:46.770 --> 25:50.840
together with the rest of Emacs,

25:50.840 --> 25:54.470
which means that the user has to know

25:54.470 --> 25:57.120
what to expect from Emacs.

25:57.120 --> 25:59.986
You may be aware of the type of user 

25:59.986 --> 26:02.680
who proclaims that they want to 

26:02.680 --> 26:04.785
boost their productivity 

26:04.785 --> 26:08.070
but who also expects immediate results.

26:08.070 --> 26:11.152
When you bring the "killer app" rhetoric 

26:11.152 --> 26:12.581
to such a crowd, 

26:12.581 --> 26:15.608
you run the risk of misleading them 

26:15.608 --> 26:18.720
into a false sense of self-confidence

26:18.720 --> 26:24.330
and concomitant expectations of success.

26:24.330 --> 26:26.655
Such users may be tempted 

26:26.655 --> 26:29.249
to try Org, Magit, and others

26:29.249 --> 26:32.470
but are most likely going to endure

26:32.470 --> 26:36.179
a frustrating experience overall.

26:36.179 --> 26:39.834
The reason is that they are oblivious

26:39.834 --> 26:41.598
to what Emacs is 

26:41.598 --> 26:44.874
and what is required 

26:44.874 --> 26:46.540
to get started with it 

26:46.540 --> 26:47.820
on a sustainable basis.

26:47.820 --> 26:50.874
Org, Magit, and friends

26:50.874 --> 26:54.899
are fantastic tools in their own right.

26:54.899 --> 26:57.399
But they still are part of Emacs.

26:57.399 --> 26:59.406
To use them effectively,

26:59.406 --> 27:01.109
you have to develop 

27:01.109 --> 27:04.090
at least a modicum of understanding

27:04.090 --> 27:06.340
on what Emacs does.

27:06.340 --> 27:07.692
You must be patient 

27:07.692 --> 27:09.519
and approach this endeavour

27:09.519 --> 27:12.500
with an open mind.

27:12.500 --> 27:14.372
Go through the tutorial, 

27:14.372 --> 27:18.939
familiarise yourself with the Help system, 

27:18.939 --> 27:23.401
make a habit out of reading Info manuals, 

27:23.401 --> 27:26.820
and take things slowly.

27:26.820 --> 27:30.358
No killer app can ever be a substitute

27:30.358 --> 27:33.132
for commitment to a cause;

27:33.132 --> 27:35.621
no vaunted life hack 

27:35.621 --> 27:39.771
will ever provide a direct conduit 

27:39.771 --> 27:44.419
to some fountain of wisdom.

27:44.419 --> 27:46.597
With regard to software freedom 

27:46.597 --> 27:48.094
and user empowerment, 

27:48.094 --> 27:50.024
what I have learnt is that 

27:50.024 --> 27:52.240
the impulse for the killer app

27:52.240 --> 27:53.974
ought to emanate 

27:53.974 --> 27:56.707
from a position of knowledge.

27:56.707 --> 27:58.974
You need to know what you are searching for, 

27:58.974 --> 28:00.107
and you need to know

28:00.107 --> 28:01.840
where you will implement that.

28:01.840 --> 28:06.571
First, we need to temper our expectations

28:06.571 --> 28:10.340
and prefer propitious growth in learning 

28:10.340 --> 28:14.159
over instant gratification.

28:14.159 --> 28:17.323
With Emacs, we have a strong foundation 

28:17.323 --> 28:19.245
for our computing freedom: 

28:19.245 --> 28:21.951
it consists of the inherent qualities 

28:21.951 --> 28:23.367
of the program 

28:23.367 --> 28:27.051
together with the documentation culture

28:27.051 --> 28:30.169
and creativity of the community.

28:30.169 --> 28:32.670
Once we learn how to benefit from those, 

28:32.670 --> 28:34.174
we have everything we need

28:34.174 --> 28:35.893
to become proficient

28:35.893 --> 28:38.592
in all the modes of interaction

28:38.592 --> 28:42.330
that are available to us.

28:42.330 --> 28:46.889
Think of it as choosing Emacs and Org, 

28:46.889 --> 28:48.876
Emacs and Magit, 

28:48.876 --> 00:28:53.139
Emacs and Org and Magit, et cetera.

28:53.140 --> 28:56.889
Next section: 

28:56.889 --> 29:01.899
"You can't be an Emacs tourist."

29:01.899 --> 29:04.521
What I just talked about implies that 

29:04.521 --> 29:06.799
you cannot simply switch to Emacs

29:06.799 --> 29:09.960
over the weekend or on a whimsy.

29:09.960 --> 29:12.915
You can't use it opportunistically 

29:12.915 --> 29:14.603
to run a quick demo 

29:14.603 --> 29:18.901
with which to impress your peers 

29:18.901 --> 29:22.940
and win some inane "nerd cred".

29:22.940 --> 29:24.907
Forget about such frivolous

29:24.907 --> 29:26.170
superficialities.

29:26.170 --> 29:29.000
Emacs is a sophisticated tool 

29:29.000 --> 29:32.600
intended for some serious work.

29:32.600 --> 29:35.436
It has been around for several decades 

29:35.436 --> 29:38.116
and it incorporates the knowledge 

29:38.116 --> 29:41.639
of a diverse group of contributors.

29:41.639 --> 29:43.616
Even if you want to use Emacs

29:43.616 --> 29:46.766
just for Org mode or whatever killer app,

29:46.766 --> 29:48.605
you still have to try

29:48.605 --> 29:51.059
to learn things in earnest.

29:51.059 --> 29:52.140
You still need to read

29:52.140 --> 29:54.196
the relevant Info manual,

29:54.196 --> 29:56.663
understand how to make changes 

29:56.663 --> 30:00.006
to the plethora of user options on offer, 

30:00.006 --> 30:03.117
and generally don't feel lost 

30:03.117 --> 30:05.710
while working with Emacs.

30:05.710 --> 30:08.264
This is more so if you use Emacs 

30:08.264 --> 30:09.967
to its full potential 

30:09.967 --> 30:13.297
as an integrated computing environment; 

30:13.297 --> 30:16.127
as your general purpose interface 

30:16.127 --> 30:17.460
to the computer,

30:17.460 --> 30:19.633
where you handle uniformly 

30:19.633 --> 30:21.726
coding and writing prose, 

30:21.726 --> 30:23.820
your email correspondence,

30:23.820 --> 30:25.022
your RSS feeds,

30:25.022 --> 30:26.908
your music collection, 

30:26.908 --> 30:30.626
your agenda and to-do lists, 

30:30.626 --> 30:31.909
and so on.

30:31.909 --> 30:33.872
The difficulty of Emacs 

30:33.872 --> 30:37.144
is much higher for those who approach it

30:37.144 --> 30:38.667
without understanding 

30:38.667 --> 30:41.299
what they are getting themselves into,

30:41.299 --> 30:43.711
or for those who are naive enough

30:43.711 --> 30:47.294
to believe that they can cheat their way

30:47.294 --> 30:50.340
out of learning the fundamentals.

30:50.340 --> 30:51.574
The gist is that 

30:51.574 --> 30:54.940
you cannot be an Emacs tourist.

30:54.940 --> 30:57.165
You can't go into Emacsland 

30:57.165 --> 30:59.469
thinking that you will spend 

30:59.469 --> 31:02.475
a couple of memorable days there 

31:02.475 --> 31:04.206
and head back home 

31:04.206 --> 31:05.755
to regale others 

31:05.755 --> 31:08.580
with stories about your adventures.

31:08.580 --> 31:11.850
It does not work that way.

31:11.850 --> 31:15.250
You commit to Emacs for the long-term, 

31:15.250 --> 31:17.990
for the freedom it offers you.

31:17.990 --> 31:20.142
Freedom in the moral sense

31:20.142 --> 31:23.123
but also in the very practical ways 

31:23.123 --> 31:25.851
in which you can mould and extend

31:25.851 --> 31:27.907
your personal workflows 

31:27.907 --> 31:31.160
with precision.

31:31.160 --> 31:32.773
Now you may wonder 

31:32.773 --> 31:35.320
why do I mention those things?

31:35.320 --> 31:39.169
Shouldn't we make Emacs easier for everyone?

31:39.169 --> 31:42.333
Yes, we should make everything

31:42.333 --> 31:44.760
as simple as possible.

31:44.760 --> 31:48.031
Though that still does not refashion Emacs

31:48.031 --> 31:51.460
into something entirely different.

31:51.460 --> 31:52.740
We continue to have 

31:52.740 --> 31:55.829
a potent tool at our disposal

31:55.829 --> 31:57.040
that we must treat 

31:57.040 --> 32:00.020
with the requisite respect.

32:00.020 --> 32:03.954
Take, for instance, the various frameworks 

32:03.954 --> 32:07.571
that set up Emacs in an opinionated way 

32:07.571 --> 32:10.465
so that newcomers get everything

32:10.465 --> 32:13.360
set up for them out-of-the-box.

32:13.360 --> 32:14.507
There is nothing wrong

32:14.507 --> 32:16.220
with those frameworks.

32:16.220 --> 32:19.417
In fact, a large part of the community

32:19.417 --> 32:21.690
uses them to great effect.

32:21.690 --> 32:24.105
However, the point stands: 

32:24.105 --> 32:26.342
even after every package 

32:26.342 --> 32:28.490
has been set up for you,

32:28.490 --> 32:30.174
you still have to put in the work

32:30.174 --> 32:31.507
in making use 

32:31.507 --> 32:35.360
of your newfound computing freedom.

32:35.360 --> 32:37.648
But, you may insist, 

32:37.648 --> 32:41.789
is that not some sort of gate-keeping?

32:41.789 --> 32:43.750
Are you not being an elitist 

32:43.750 --> 32:45.972
by telling people how they must 

32:45.972 --> 32:48.009
invest time and effort

32:48.009 --> 32:49.804
in making the best 

32:49.804 --> 32:52.639
out of their Emacs experience?

32:52.639 --> 32:56.830
No, I think this is not elitism.

32:56.830 --> 32:59.358
There are no secrets here, 

32:59.358 --> 33:02.530
no artificial barriers to entry, 

33:02.530 --> 33:06.562
no impediments to making progress,

33:06.562 --> 33:09.409
no tricks and gimmicks.

33:09.409 --> 33:13.460
It just is a statement of fact.

33:13.460 --> 33:16.309
Freedom entails responsibility.

33:16.309 --> 33:20.481
It requires people to take the initiative 

33:20.481 --> 33:23.728
and assert control over the factors

33:23.728 --> 33:26.420
that are within their reach.

33:26.420 --> 33:29.267
Freedom ultimately means 

33:29.267 --> 33:33.254
that we no longer remain dependent 

33:33.254 --> 33:35.419
on being spoon-fed.

33:35.419 --> 00:33:39.173
We assume agency.

33:39.174 --> 33:41.540
And with this, I want to come to 

33:41.540 --> 33:44.940
the final section of this presentation.

33:44.940 --> 33:46.407
The title is: 

33:46.407 --> 33:52.250
"Emacs as a champion of software freedom."

33:52.250 --> 33:56.272
To my mind, Emacs is the embodiment 

33:56.272 --> 33:59.289
of the GNU project's ethos.

33:59.289 --> 34:01.245
Everything you expect from a program 

34:01.245 --> 34:02.990
that is underpinned by the values

34:02.990 --> 34:05.342
of software freedom 

34:05.342 --> 34:07.460
is found in Emacs.

34:07.460 --> 34:10.962
What you get is not merely an ethical tool, 

34:10.962 --> 34:13.032
important though that is, 

34:13.032 --> 34:17.405
but also a gift that will keep on giving; 

34:17.405 --> 34:20.840
a gift for you to further empower yourself

34:20.840 --> 34:24.020
as a computer user.

34:24.020 --> 34:27.457
I understood that freedom of software

34:27.457 --> 34:31.600
is not about liberating the code itself.

34:31.600 --> 34:34.950
It is about sharing libre code 

34:34.950 --> 34:38.410
in order to emancipate the user.

34:38.410 --> 34:40.899
The best way to achieve that 

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is by emulating Prometheas: 

34:43.302 --> 34:47.187
don't just give people the so-called "fire"; 

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offer them the underlying know-how.

34:50.907 --> 34:52.940
Emacs taught me

34:52.940 --> 34:54.378
the virtues of software freedom

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in a way that nothing else

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in the GNU/Linux space ever did.

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Here's an example from a few years ago.

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I needed a Markdown editor.

35:07.050 --> 35:09.099
I wanted it to centre 

35:09.099 --> 35:12.080
the body of the text on display.

35:12.080 --> 35:15.384
It should have configurable font families 

35:15.384 --> 35:17.030
and point sizes.

35:17.030 --> 35:19.646
Spell checking for Greek and English 

35:19.646 --> 35:20.990
should be included.

35:20.990 --> 35:25.007
The colours had to be editable as well, 

35:25.007 --> 35:26.940
so I could adjust them 

35:26.940 --> 35:30.064
to a level of legibility

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I was comfortable with.

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While there were plenty of libre programs, 

35:35.657 --> 35:37.174
I did not find one 

35:37.174 --> 35:39.905
I could control and inspect

35:39.905 --> 35:43.190
to the extent I can with Emacs.

35:43.190 --> 35:46.982
Which made me feel that I had stagnated: 

35:46.982 --> 35:49.572
there was an indelible line 

35:49.572 --> 35:53.500
dividing users from developers.

35:53.500 --> 35:55.899
Whereas Emacs invites you 

35:55.899 --> 35:58.106
to blur the distinction 

35:58.106 --> 36:00.590
between user and the developer.

36:00.590 --> 36:03.837
It furnishes the means to become 

36:03.837 --> 36:05.510
proficient in it,

36:05.510 --> 36:07.717
while the community complements those

36:07.717 --> 36:10.744
with its documentation culture 

36:10.744 --> 36:12.990
and overall creativity.

36:12.990 --> 36:15.679
You start off as a complete ignoramus, 

36:15.679 --> 36:19.190
but soon pick up skills that remain useful

36:19.190 --> 36:22.200
for as long as you work with Emacs.

36:22.200 --> 36:23.574
And if you really want to 

36:23.574 --> 36:25.150
take it a step further,

36:25.150 --> 36:27.569
you know where to look 

36:27.569 --> 36:30.620
for inspiration and guidance.

36:30.620 --> 36:32.722
Before you realise it, 

36:32.722 --> 36:35.556
you start writing code in ELisp

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and can one day share it with others.

36:39.030 --> 36:42.060
What I have learnt over the past 2.5 years

36:42.060 --> 36:43.331
as an Emacs user 

36:43.331 --> 36:45.661
is that if you go from scratch 

36:45.661 --> 36:48.442
and are meticulous in your approach, 

36:48.442 --> 36:51.379
you will need a few days or weeks 

36:51.379 --> 36:54.750
before everything starts to make sense.

36:54.750 --> 36:57.477
After that initial awkward phase

36:57.477 --> 37:00.428
during which you familiarise yourself 

37:00.428 --> 37:01.748
with the basics, 

37:01.748 --> 37:06.050
everything else will become easier to learn.

37:06.050 --> 37:09.524
It is a matter of gaining more experience, 

37:09.524 --> 37:11.060
one step at a time.

37:11.060 --> 37:13.537
As with every field of expertise, 

37:13.537 --> 37:15.870
Emacs expects you to work for it

37:15.870 --> 37:19.110
and to earn it.

37:19.110 --> 37:21.240
For me, that is worth it.

37:21.240 --> 37:23.655
In terms of being malleable 

37:23.655 --> 37:25.294
in a consistent way

37:25.294 --> 37:28.388
and transparent in what it does, 

37:28.388 --> 37:31.390
Emacs is in a league of its own.

37:31.390 --> 37:33.707
In conclusion, folks,

37:33.707 --> 37:36.898
Emacs allowed me to assert control

37:36.898 --> 37:39.260
over a great portion

37:39.260 --> 37:42.780
of my quotidian computing.

37:42.780 --> 37:44.827
It helped me grow out of 

37:44.827 --> 37:47.448
the state of ignorance I was in;

37:47.448 --> 37:49.811
a state that rendered me 

37:49.811 --> 37:52.528
powerless to use the computer 

37:52.528 --> 37:54.430
exactly how I wanted.

37:54.430 --> 37:57.910
For that I am grateful.

37:57.910 --> 38:00.071
I now consider it my duty

38:00.071 --> 38:02.025
to contribute back to 

38:02.025 --> 38:04.007
this wonderful project 

38:04.007 --> 38:06.390
and this awesome community.

38:06.390 --> 38:09.174
So thank you very much for your attention

38:09.174 --> 38:12.690
in watching today's presentation.

38:12.690 --> 38:13.874
Special thanks to 

38:13.874 --> 38:18.207
the EmacsConf organizers and volunteers.

38:18.207 --> 38:20.574
This is all from my side, folks.

38:20.574 --> 38:23.910
Thank you very much. Goodbye.