I have just attended the first Philippine Emacs User Group meeting. I am quite excited to be there although there were only six people there. You always start small. I pray I would be able to show some crazy hacks for Emacs just to show it is awesome. So what a good time to talk about my experience in hacking with Emacs.
This is what I recently hacked on Emacs.
A configurable init file that allows me to change the Emacs home directory with -H command line switch
This allows me to load other configuration files without affecting my own. I always wanted to checkout Spacemacs but I don't want to rename files or run custom aliases. What I wanted was a master configuration and opening custom configurations independent of each other. Aside from Spacemacs, I wanted to study some of the master's configuration along with my own.
A projectile project initialization script
When I'm doing this blog, I always run a
project.elscript to setup my functions to publish the files. Not that mind blowing but I'm starting to feel confident on using lisp now, well not all of it. For now…Reorganizing my configuration file
After the first versions of using an org file for my configuration, I finally organized the package declarations in such a nice way. The use-package macro is such a great way of organizing imports but organizing how they are organized is always a job of a human.
So forth and so on but what I really wanted to say is that it was fun doing it. The joy of hacking Emacs. Each line I change to my configuration, is an investment, is a bonding moment, is knowing more. I feel there is so much more to do which excites my curiosity and excitement even further. I wait for the day when I know almost all facets of Emacs.
So here lies why I don't use a starter kit or a custom configuration, my configuration is what my relationship with Emacs is. If it is not mine, it is not personal. I do not know who it is, it is a stranger altogether; it is not the friend that I grew up in triumph and frustration.
Spacemacs is very sleek and pretty but it is not mine. It is nice to know what makes it different and then assimilate the it with my own but again I don't know everything about it. It is like hiding a secret from a trusted confidant. And when something is wrong with it, it is not my responsibility. Ownership, when something is I am responsible for fixing it. In there I find my meaning, empowering in taking lead.
Or I am just a control freak who wants to know everything happening at my level. I can probably expound more but I find it nice to know how seriously I take my relationship with Emacs is. When I was using an IDE, it was just being impressed with features and the productivity but nothing more as an tool; working with Emacs is such a different experience altogether.
If that is somehow true for other Emacs users, looking at how much they hacked on Emacs is like knowing their story. The configuration story. What a nice thought to have there and I like it. A story in code. Who is doesn't like a story? As time goes by I may continually fascinated the story I write with it.
Here I might get a little religious. The way I describe it, it feels like I am talking about God. Who in his eternal mystery and power, come to share a personal relationship or story. How I came to believe, how I am continually curious about the mysteries of faith, how I find purpose in living. Or I am just entirely wrong and paranoid, I just want to say hacking with Emacs is such a joy that might consume me until the final bit. What a nice thought.