Three HUGE Mistakes New Emacs Users Make

Summary

The speaker—an Emacs enthusiast—walks viewers through three common mistakes new Emacs users make and shows how to avoid them. Using their Doom Emacs distribution, they explain why running the Emacs daemon and launching clients (emacs --daemon + emacsclient -c -a) makes startup far faster. They discourage opening Emacs from a terminal or file manager, demonstrating Emacs’ built-in terminal (vterm) and file manager (dired) instead. Finally, they argue for using the GUI Emacs rather than the terminal version to access images, variable fonts, and richer Org-mode features. The video closes with thanks to patrons and a reminder that GUI Emacs offers the best experience.

Takeaways

• 💻 Emacs users should always start Emacs using the Emacs daemon and Emacs client for faster launch times and better performance.
• ⚙️ The proper way to start Emacs is by running 'emacs --daemon &' to launch the background server, then connecting with 'emacsclient -c -a emacs'.
• 🚀 Launching Emacs without the daemon is slower because it initializes the entire environment each time it’s opened.
• 📂 Emacs has built-in tools like 'dired' for file management and 'vterm' for terminal access, so users don’t need external file managers or terminals.
• 🧭 Navigating files and directories within Emacs improves workflow efficiency by eliminating unnecessary external windows.
• 🪟 Emacs is primarily a GUI (graphical user interface) program, not just a terminal-based one like Vim.
• 🖼️ The GUI version of Emacs supports features like images, varying font sizes, and graphical elements that the terminal version cannot display.
• 🧠 Many Emacs beginners make the mistake of treating Emacs like Vim, but Emacs operates differently and benefits from using its full GUI capabilities.
• 🪄 Emacs should be integrated into the system startup (via window manager or desktop environment) to ensure the daemon runs automatically.
• 💡 Users should alias 'emacs' to launch the Emacs client by default for convenience and consistency.
• 🎮 Even built-in Emacs games and applications perform better in the GUI version compared to the terminal version.
• 🙌 The creator encourages experimentation but emphasizes understanding Emacs’s unique workflow to avoid frustration and 'rookie mistakes'.

Q & A

Why is launching Emacs with the daemon important?

Launching Emacs with the daemon ensures that the Emacs server is always running in the background, which improves startup speed. Without this, Emacs can feel slow to load, as each session would require the program to fully initialize every time it's launched.

What is the 'Emacs client' and why should it be used?

The 'Emacs client' is a way to open Emacs windows while using a background server (the Emacs daemon). It is faster because the server is already running, which eliminates the overhead of launching Emacs from scratch each time. You should always launch Emacs through the client for better performance.

What command is used to start the Emacs daemon?

The command to start the Emacs daemon is `emacs --daemon &`. This starts the server in the background so that Emacs clients can be opened quickly thereafter.

How does Doomy Max optimize Emacs for speed?

Doomy Max optimizes Emacs for speed by carefully configuring settings and using performance-enhancing tweaks. Despite this optimization, launching Emacs without the daemon still results in a slower startup time.

What is the impact of using Emacs from a terminal or file manager?

Using Emacs from a terminal or file manager can be inefficient because Emacs has built-in functionality to handle both terminal-like commands and file management tasks. For example, you can use Emacs' terminal emulator (Vterm) and file manager (Dired) without needing separate applications, which helps reduce clutter and improves workflow.

What is Dired and why should it be used in Emacs?

Dired is Emacs' built-in file manager. It allows users to navigate and manage files directly within Emacs, which means you don’t need to open a separate file manager application. It integrates seamlessly with Emacs, allowing you to open and edit files without switching between different programs.

What mistake do users make when trying to work in Emacs like it's Vim?

One common mistake is attempting to use Emacs solely as a terminal application, like Vim. However, Emacs is a GUI-based program, not a terminal program. While Emacs can run terminal-like features, such as a terminal emulator (Vterm), its true power lies in its GUI capabilities.

Why shouldn't Emacs be run in a terminal when a GUI is available?

Running Emacs in a terminal limits the software’s capabilities. You won’t get access to graphical features like varying font sizes, image previews, and better handling of org-mode bullets. The GUI version of Emacs is much more feature-rich and optimized for these visual enhancements.

What happens when you try to open Emacs in a terminal with the '-nw' flag?

Using the `-nw` (no window) flag forces Emacs to run in the terminal. While it functions similarly to Vim inside the terminal, it lacks the advantages of a GUI, such as graphical font rendering and multimedia support, making it less efficient and visually restrictive.

How can users set Emacs client to launch automatically?

To ensure Emacs client is used every time, users can configure their window manager or desktop environment to launch the Emacs daemon automatically at startup. Additionally, setting an alias in the shell configuration file (like `~/.bashrc` or `~/.zshrc`) ensures that the Emacs client is used instead of launching Emacs in the terminal.