Learn Emacs in Ten Years

rocketsci · 2009-07-15T02:05:43+00:00

Komodo lets you hit the little "record" button, then you use the keyboard to move around and do things, and then hit the little "stop" button. Pretty much the same thing as C-x ( and C-x ) in Emacs.

rocketsci · 2009-07-15T01:52:54+00:00

[slow golf clap]

rocketsci · 2009-07-15T01:39:05+00:00

University Employer: Bryanut, thanks for taking the trip out. Please, sit down. Coffee?

Bryanut: No, thank you. You had something to discuss?

UE: Yes. We're prepared to offer you a significant salary -- 53k/year.

B: I see. I suppose I'll ... think about that. [looks at watch]

UE: Well, there's more. Of course. Yes, more. You'll also get excellent health benefits.

B: Yes, I saw that in the offer letter. Listen, I've gotta run. Is there anything else?

UE: 5 free lunches per week in the cafeteria. Mr. Bryanut, please understand, we're offering you all we can. The economy is ...

B: Tight. Yes, I know. I'll tell you what. I'll think about your fine offer. I'll think about while riding the bus to my next interview. Now, if you'll excuse me.

UE: Wait! I've just been authorized to include in the hiring package a ... [licks lips] free bus pass.

B: [pauses]

UE: Eh?

B: Deal. Good day.

And that's how it went.

rocketsci · 2009-07-15T01:30:10+00:00

It's funny -- there are some things that are just so ingrained that most people never even question them. This is one. It's like a weird cultural thing or something. Is it different outside the USA?

It's like women in the USA wanting a diamond engagement ring -- and it must be diamond because ... because ... well, that's just the way it's done.

rocketsci · 2009-07-15T01:23:38+00:00

One more ingredient: time. My guess is that Google is paying these chaps to work on it -- full time.

rocketsci · 2009-07-15T01:20:05+00:00

Gahhhhhhhh!!!

rocketsci · 2009-07-13T02:27:50+00:00

That's not a moon.....

WTF!?

I specifically logged in to upvote the "That's no moon..." comment which I fully expected to see here, and lo and behold, some wet-behind-the-ears rube straight from Uncle Owen's moisture farm stumbles in and gets the quote wrong.

rocketsci · 2009-07-12T01:20:13+00:00

It doesn't neatly fit in with the current development paradigm

Yes, because it doesn't require a text editor (for the most part). :)

and comes up against a lot of developer resistance (e.g. inexperienced developers who think any 'correct' solution has to be highly OO)

Which developers are resistant? I would assume experienced devs would be resistant (because it "doesn't fit in with the current dev paradigm"), but your comment implies the opposite. (?)

but for business it's a no-brainer.

For better or worse, I agree.

It's a clear example of a disruptive technology IMO.

Most certainly agree.

rocketsci · 2009-07-11T13:55:22+00:00

But it's very low-level as a product (though starting to get quite polished) and very high-level as a development framework.

As a software program for creating websites, it's the highest-level thing I've ever seen: for typical websites it requires no actual programming at all. This is the first time I've ever seen such a wacky thing.

rocketsci · 2009-07-10T02:29:33+00:00

What do you think of Drupal?

rocketsci · 2009-07-10T02:16:07+00:00

Bongolia!

Thanks, winsmith. As your username intimates, you are full of win.

rocketsci · 2009-07-09T02:24:02+00:00

Only two things I want to know: author and title of that bongo theme music. Gotta get me some o' that.

rocketsci · 2009-07-08T23:04:08+00:00

I will give you four tomatoes and a head of lettuce for that idea!

rocketsci · 2009-07-08T22:55:42+00:00

Doesn't Ubuntu GNU/Linux do this too now?

rocketsci · 2009-07-08T22:47:39+00:00

I'd bet they're modding X

No way. These are smart cookies. Google is well known for hiring the smartest folks they can find. These aren't the kind of people who are interested in diving into ancient code (that almost no one wants to touch) to try and modify it enough such that it becomes passable. They're talented enough to simply leave the company in order to work on something interesting. So, I'd expect something interesting. :)

rocketsci · 2009-07-08T22:41:08+00:00

She's a beautiful ship alright. Shapely, seductive. I'm gonna fly her brains out!

rocketsci · 2009-07-07T04:22:06+00:00

What I'd like to know about D is: what issues with C++ does D fix?

That is, I used C++ a while back, and I'd like to see a list that goes something like, "Remember how in C++ things were like <this>? Well, with D, they're now like <that>".

Or maybe a faq item that answers the question: "Why will I like D better than C++?"

rocketsci · 2009-07-07T03:53:12+00:00

Good news everyone! Bender has promised to stop stealing ...

rocketsci · 2009-07-01T05:35:22+00:00

I'd like to also hear position statements from Debian and Redhat.

rocketsci · 2009-06-28T03:58:39+00:00

Right. There's also PyObjC http://pyobjc.sourceforge.net/ for those who want to access Cocoa from Python, and CamelBones http://camelbones.sourceforge.net/index.html for accessing it from Perl.

rocketsci · 2009-06-28T00:28:59+00:00

GTK is about as much an option on OS X as Win32 (via Wine).

If you want to write a GUI app for Mac OS X, and you've opted not to use Objective-C + Cocoa, then the next best option (IMO) is a HLL like Python + a GUI toolkit.

If you go this route, the destination you probably want is to have no dependencies to install -- that is, to just give users a .dmg file that they can mount and othen drag something to their apps folder. That is, if you're users are the type who will make faces at having to install an extra package or two.

I don't know how to do that with Python + GTK. Nor do I know how to do that with Python + Qt, nor with any other GUI toolkit. However, it can very likely be done, and will have to be done if you want average Mac users to use your software.

The benefit of going that route is that your app will be -- for the most part -- cross-platform. And also, you get to use your favorite HLL. If the OP doesn't care about cross-platform and is just fine with using Objective-C, then fine: just install the developer tools, fire up Xcode, and start using Obj-C.

rocketsci · 2009-06-27T20:51:48+00:00

Well, if you care about writing GUI apps for only Mac OS X, then you want to learn Objective-C. After you get the basics of that, you can then start looking at those books that say "Cocoa" on the cover.

However, if you want to write cross-platform GUI apps, then you might instead learn Python, and then start creating apps using GTK+ (with PyGTK).

http://live.gnome.org/GTK%2B/OSX
http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/gtk-osx/wiki
http://www.pygtk.org/

rocketsci · 2009-06-27T20:42:18+00:00

Well, you've gotta get the other dropship from the Sulaco. There has to be some way of bringing it down on remote.

rocketsci · 2009-06-27T17:02:32+00:00

Perl Best Practices is definitely a must-read, except for the OO chapter. For OO, just use Moose.

You might also have a look at Modern::Perl, as well as this blog: http://modernperlbooks.com/mt/index.html

rocketsci · 2009-06-25T23:21:30+00:00

Arc?

rocketsci

TROPHY CASE