GNU Emacs for Windows: Getting Monopoly$oft WinBlows to suck less by PLAYING

**gps** · 02-02-2014, 01:30 AM

Okay ... I haven't started many threads ... at all, let alone in any given forum.

I've experienced some influential disappointments over the decades of my love affair with computers in the main.
Among them are the non-portability of my favorite games and apps of one platform and/or OS to my latest computing machine.
Another is the Frankensteinian 500 lb gorilla grafted together from seemingly equal parts of Stupidity and Taste-in-one's-mouth, philistine aesthetics which found those with more money than sense purchasing IBM PCs and Macintoshs in far greater numbers than Commodore Amigas.

Regardless ... that WAS then (EG mid to late '80s), this is NOW!

Regardless of whether Windows 8 sucks out loud or even sucks at all, ITs Here Now ... it's exists as per an existence proof.
And it exists as just one of the OSes upon which GNU emacs runs upon, as is the case with Mozilla products, GIMP, Inkscape, and many other cross-platform apps.
Moreover, I'd venture that many if not MOST of us have or DO use it ... be it at home, at college, at work ... wherever.

So ... whether you Love, like, or merely use Winblows with a metaphorical gun held to your head ... this thread for those of us with the P play ethic capable of having FUN, even when starting out with a stacked deck.
When life hands us lemons -- when life gives us Winblows -- we cannot only crush them, add water and sugar; we can impose our `most logical of the MBTI types' will, wit, and willingness to play upon whatever we find in our environment towards transforming OUR world.

GNU emacs, BTW, operationally-IS more of an environment than whatever else it has been described as.
This environment can take the shape of a work shop for forging/constructing source code, a laboratory for experimenting, a language lab, a realm in which a game is played, etc.

For those sufficiently curious -- and at least tentatively willing to play along -- GNU emacs for Windows can be downloaded for FREE then installed like any other Windows app.
As I -- and I hope others -- will be providing magical incantations composed in emacs' own dialect of Lisp you'll need the 47MB version with all the lisp code IFF you want to play along.

I've used GNU emacs for Windows as both a native windows app and under cygwin both as emacs and emacs-nox so I'm up for accommodating the permutations of preferences of those who opt to play in this thread.

Rather than to mindlessly continue with techno-babble I'll close out this OP with a list some of what can be done by using GNU emacs atop Windows

Scripting in several formats arguably better than DOS batch as well as launching DOS batch files
Launch Windows apps
File management
command line shell interfacing
composition and editing of vBulletin text
composition or publishable texts -- EG web pages, papers, pamphlets, books, etc.
games -- from text adventure to Tetris
DIY -- create-your-OWN apps, utilities, games, and magical incantations
Do-With-Others projects arguably BETTER than socializing in/at a MakerSpace
Oh! I almost forgot; emacs can be used to compose and edit `source code' in ANY/EVERY programming language imaginable as well as natural language Text posted in vBullitin Groups such as this.

If you've been experimenting with GNU emacs for Windows don't hesitate to make requests to this thread.
Likewise, if you've got a killer demo please don't hesitate to flaunt it as it might inspire, amuse, or trigger some fun and games, productivity, and/or creativity ... or any combination thereof.

Let the games begin!!!

**Osito Polar** · 02-02-2014, 01:56 AM

What ... precisely ... the ... fuck ... ?

Richard Stallman, is that you?

**LordLatch** · 02-02-2014, 02:14 AM

I try to use open source cross platform software whenever I can.

My most used open source applications are Firefox, Blender, Gimp, Abiword, Gnumeric, Inkscape, Programmer's Notepad- sometimes I use Notepad++

And I forgot to mention, my friend is a Vi guy.

**gps** · 02-02-2014, 04:28 AM

Originally Posted by latch

Originally Posted by latch

I try to use open source cross platform software whenever I can.

If you can get GNU emacs for Windows -- assuming you get Winblows running at least in a VM -- I'm pretty sure I can provide you with a few magical incantations that will put a smile on your face.

Originally Posted by latch

My most used open source applications are Firefox, Blender, Gimp, Abiword, Gnumeric, Inkscape, Programmer's Notepad- sometimes I use Notepad++

It's super simple to launch these apps from within GNU emacs for windows ... as well as launching browser tabs via Firefox or any other major browser.
I can whip up some demo code for you but at this juncture you probably don't have a prefered way of having it evaluated/run/executed.
Would you rather be able to click on a file with new extension, have Windows respond by asking you to associate an app, select emacs, with then henceforth have emacs started when you click on files of that type ... OR
would you rather copy text from a code block into a buffer within emacs and do things more hands-on like a coder?
A preference for one doesn't preclude the other ... so you can experiment with both.
As we're just getting started I'll try to cover both methods:

As you strike me as a hands-on guy from way back I'll present you with some code you can copy-then-paste in the one-of-typically-three buffers at your disposal after emacs has finished lauching: the one named *scratch* which you can specify in several ways.
Though you may be able to do this a more wonky way, I'll present the most user-friendly way for those used to GUI apps with pull-down menus: Buffers --> *scratch*

Once you've got your cursor plopped in the scratch buffer you've got a soccer's apprentice awaiting a magical incantation to carry out on your behalf.
To get lisp interpreter to respond to your incantation you just place the cursor at the end of the closing `)' of the expression then type Ctrl-j ... henceforth abbreviated C-j both here and within emacs help content
Here are few to try to see if they put a smile on your face:

Code:

;         v--- place cursor after ) then tap Ctrl-j to make it happen.
(tetris)

Code:

;                                                                               v--- place cursor after ) then tap Ctrl-j to make it happen.
(progn  (require (quote w32-common-fns)) (w32-shell-execute nil "explorer.exe"))
; Yep!  this pushes Windows' buttons.  
; And we can use this w32-shell-execute function to launch ANY application on (y)our windows system.

Here's two to start you off.
I'll remove this text as I edit this post by including more entry level incantations after I send this first draft.

For those who'd like the luxury and convenience of clicking on a file and having emacs launched and the instructions for creating such a file are included within the source code here:

Code:

; to create a file which can be clicked on simply copy the following into notepad, emacs itself, or another other app which allows one to save text in ASCII form ... THEN
; save the file by any name you'd like so long as it has a `.el' extension.
; the `.el' is used by emacs lisp files.
; The first time you click on the file you will be presented a dialog box which asks you for which app to use to open this file.
; you simply select GNU emacs and ask the system to always open files of this type with emacs.
; Henceforth, simply click on any file ending with `.el' and emacs will be launched.

; An obvious name for the file to insert this in would be play_tetris_via_emacs.el

(tetris)

Originally Posted by latch

And I forgot to mention, my friend is a Vi guy.

Now we're talkin'!!!
Emacs IS a better Vi than Vi; it has vi emulators, VIPER the most prominent among them.
As emacs lisp can do AI as good if not better than common lisp in this regard a clever emacs user can simulate the behavior of his Vi-using buddy as a ball-busting exercise ... if this seems like a FUN project for you.

**gps** · 02-02-2014, 04:33 AM

Originally Posted by Osito Polar

What ... precisely ... the ... fuck ... ?

Richard Stallman, is that you?

I'm sure Richard would be rolling over in his grave ... and he's not even dead yet.

I'm a couple years younger and 20 to 30 IQ points shy of Richard Stallman, I'm sure.
Though I appreciate how he's kept the Lisp of John McCarthy alive and kickin'.
Though I've never heard him proclaim his INTPness I'd bet YOUR life on it, Osito!

I've got an INTP buddy who has exchanged emails with him, though I never have.

Spoiler: A clue to decoding the butt-ugly prose of gps as beheld by Hephy

**gps** · 02-02-2014, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by latch

I try to use open source cross platform software whenever I can.

My most used open source applications are Firefox, Blender, Gimp, Abiword, Gnumeric, Inkscape, Programmer's Notepad- sometimes I use Notepad++

Duh!!!
Dumb ass me!
If you use notepad or notepad++ then your first order of experimentation is NOT fucking around with lisp; it's using emacs to edit ASCII or UTF-8 files the same way you would with notepad or Notepad++ ... which is in manual mode.
emacs is super easy to use via Pull-down menus.
Though you might have been responding politely to this thread I started and aren't all that interested in giving it a try.
Though notepad doesn't do syntax colorizing I'm not sure about Notepad++; emacs definitely does.
Notepad only allows one file to be edited per session; I've had a couple hundred open in separate buffers within emacs ... as well as buffers used for shell sessions, IRC sessions, and games.
I'm pretty sure the upper limit for buffers is how much memory you have in your system.

I suppose if Windows were to suck less and/or be more fun then I'd have to intuitively guess what might be fun for you.
But I imagine that if you're pretty comfortable with Notepad and Notepad++ that you you might only download, install, and try emacs on a lark.

Okay, I'm asking ... what might be some fun things to try for you, personally, latch?
I know you might want to work with some c code ... at least edit it.
emacs can not only edit c code it can launch a c compiler -- and if you use etags -- can even place the cursor at the position in a source code file at which the compiler generates an error.
When gainfully employed as a coder I used to launch gcc from within emacs to compile c code for one job and then c++ for another gig.

As an android developer I found something of possible interest while rummaging through a list of free packages: android-mode

I don't know how much time -- if any -- you spend using dos shell or bash -- perhaps through a virtual machine.
GNU emacs for Windows allows one to run a dos shell within an emacs buffer.
Here's the text my system displays when I launch a dos shell:
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.2.9200]
(c) 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Though, frankly, most of what I'd do via dos shell can be done via more convenient methods.
It's nice to know it's there if I I need it ... like the hundreds of other blades on this Swiss Army Chainsaw.

So ... let's HAVE SOME FUN, latch!

Start us off, man.
How about a few rounds of brainstorming until something irresistibly pops up?

Hmmmm ... something came to mind for YOU and other android users: org-mode
It can be used on a smart phone sans emacs.
And if one uses org-mode with emacs one gets even MORE power.

Help me out, man! Spit ball a bit. Throw out a few off-the-wall ideas we can all play off.

**JollyBard** · 02-02-2014, 01:28 PM

I prefer Vim.

**mthomps** · 02-02-2014, 03:10 PM

....but I don't have windows.

**Osito Polar** · 02-02-2014, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by JollyBard

I prefer Vim.

Yes. Vim on Linux. Bluefish is also a good editor. On Windows, Notepad++.

**gps** · 02-03-2014, 02:48 AM

Originally Posted by mthomps

....but I don't have windows.

We can still accommodate you ... IF we focus on having FUN.
Already there is talk about `editors' rather than play pens, laboratories, experimental environments: emacs CAN function as all of these; vim, notepad, and notepad++ can NOT.
I started off with the most accepting and liberal position as many if not most of us use windows in one venue or another.

I suppose this is a good-enough opportunity to provide an incantation which reveals which OS emacs is running atop.

Code:

; to have emacs evaluate this symbolic expression just copy this text into the buffer named *scratch* then
;                                v--- place cursor here then type Ctrl-j
(describe-variable 'system-type)

We can use this variable to make stuff which works as-desired on a wide range of set ups.

Code:

(cond 
  ((eq system-type 'gnu         )     "compiled for a GNU Hurd system.")
  ((eq system-type `gnu/linux   )     "compiled for a GNU/Linux system.")
  ((eq system-type `gnu/kfreebsd)     "compiled for a GNU system with a FreeBSD kernel.")
  ((eq system-type `darwin      )     "compiled for Darwin (GNU-Darwin, Mac OS X, ...).")
  ((eq system-type `ms-dos      )     "compiled as an MS-DOS application.")
  ((eq system-type `windows-nt  )     "compiled as a native W32 application.")
  ((eq system-type `cygwin      )     "compiled using the Cygwin library.")
  (   t                               "huh?")
)
;^--- place cursor here then type Ctrl-j after copying this text into the buffer named *scratch* to have emacs evaluate this symbolic expression