Re: mail-to resolved (Was: Re: [cobalt-users] New Cobalt Forum)

[Jens Kristian Søgaard <jens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 > That should give you keybindings that matche the ones in your WordStar
> > editor.

> It'll be close; not exact; "joe" isn't exactly wordstar, though it's
> close.  It's perhaps a bit closer to the old Borland editor, which was
> "based on Wordstar".

Well, you can always customize the keybindings exactly as you like them. It
is no problem.

> > But you need to beware of the number 1 newbie mistake regarding Emacs:
Don't
> > close it!

> Not sure what you mean; can I shell out from Emacs to do things on the
> RaQ?  Or should I open two ssh sessions?

Both is possible.

You can "shell out" from any program on a Linux/Unix box by pressing C-z.
But in Emacs you also have the possibility of using a shell-mode.

> > Oh, I thought you worked with Unix machines normally? (they got Meta
keys,
> > Compose keys, Menu keys, etc.)

> The Unix and Linux systems I work on don't have any keys <smile>.  I
> normally use a PC as a window into the systems I work on.

Oh, I see. I use Linux systems mostly -- and I always put on a keyboard that
gives me Meta, Compose, Super, Menu, etc.

> It was quite late last night when I said I didn't know what a Meta key
> was.  Of course I do this morning, after a few hours of sleep <smile>.
> Just to prove it <smile, again>... the "Windows95/98 keyboards have a
> "windows" key.  That's a meta key <smile, yet again>.

Not, not at all. The Meta is a kind of modifier like you have the "shift"
key. The special thing about the Meta key is, that it just adds 128 to the
ASCII code of the key you're pressing. Pressing M-a would give a gode of 225
(dec) for example.

You can remap your Windows key to be a Meta key ofcourse (I use the
Microsoft Natural keyboards on Linux machines. They are great.). But then
again, your keyboard is just a number of "switches" -- so you could equally
choose your Enter key to be a Windows key. Or even better, make your
keyboard a DVORAK-one instead of the boring QWERTY.

> But... I very seldom have had any use for a Meta key, which is probably
> why I have no idea what it is under Tera Term (which I've been using for
> over a year.  I think  that Meta keys are used mostly in programs like
> Emacs (editors with extensions); and I don't use them much.

Well, Compose keys are _very_ good, when you're working with several
languages and special characters. I use my computer to write Danish, English
and German -- and the Compose key is a very easy way to get umlauts,
accents, etc. It can also be used to find "hard" chars like the ? sign, etc.

> > Sure, or maybe try reading this book (online):
> > http://linux.tomsk.ru/docs/programms/emacs/index.htm

> You're telling this to someone who doesn't believe in online
> book-reading.  I do it, but I don't like it.  I'll see what I can find
> at the Computer Fair today; otherwise I'll do online reading.

Well, buy the book then. It's written by a local Dane, so I won't object :-)

If you want a head-start, I'll recommend that you take the interactive
tutorial in Emacs. It gives you the possibility to try out a lot of things,
without being able to make errors or crash anything.

--
Jens Kristian Søgaard, Mermaid Consulting I/S,
jens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
http://www.mermaidconsulting.com/