TAGS: WHERNTO: erudite techniq
GNU Emacs is one of the most amazing pieces of software ever created and is the editor of our choice. Mickey Petersen has done an excellent job presenting an education on emacs to anyone - novice or guru!
The book not only provides useful tips and keybindings, it encourages one to develop a philosophy of editing incorporating theory and technique. The book's site also has a series of articles, an intelligent reading guide, and even Mickey's own list of packages to use with emacs! Mickey is a generous and approachable individual who provides a most appropriately cryptic method of contacting him in the about section.
With more than 2 decades of emacsing, we have found Mickey's book to be enlightening as have many others:
Mastering Emacs is the single best book on Emacs that I know of. It tells you what you need to know, and what you didn't know you needed to know, and it does it clearly and comprehensibly. I am now on version 4 of this work which is updated regularly with each new major version. I find something new to try every time I pick it up. This is a good book for helping the beginner to get started, and a great book for helping the more advanced user to discover new tools and opportunities. - Britt Anderson
I think that Mastering Emacs is the easiest and clearest way to get started with Emacs. It's a very easy read and is super well structured. I read it cover to cover in one afternoon and couldn't put it down (well aside from when I need to free both hands to try some keybindings). - Adrien Brochard
I started using Emacs a year and a half ago by taking the 'Emacs pledge' —no other editor until I would get comfortable with Emacs. Your book was there from the start, and the tremendously inspired chapter 2 'The Way of Emacs' alone is worth a whole manual. It's what gave me a taste of what Emacs can be, before I could experience it myself. The rest of the book is just the gold standard for this kind of resources: a thoughtful selection of topics, explained in a way that encourages the reader to explore on their own. - Enrico Flor
Checkout more kudos in the book-testimonials section!
And buy the book even if you don't use emacs! Take your first step toward making the world a better place!!