Emacs Cult Problem: Emacs vs Windows Notepad (2011)

By Xah Lee. Date:

On , “Captain Obvious” [udode…@users.sourceforge.net] wrote:

Yeah, god forbid doing things differently than Windows(r) NotePad does.

One of the emacs cult phenomenon is that whenever some UI improvement is mentioned, the emacs cultist will bring up Windows Notepad. It's like this:

Emacs user: we should be more loving and share resources.

Emacs cult: why don't you join the communist?

from that point on, no meaningful discussion can be had. It's just emacs vs Windows Notepad, the good vs the evil, the enlightened hackers vs idiots. Like:

Emacs user: emacs undo is making me insane. Is it possible to have traditional undo?

Emacs cult: if you want Windows Notepad, use that.

Emacs user: emacs keys are so hard to remember. Is it possible to support the conventional keys for copy, cut, open, close, etc as in GNU/Linux apps?

Emacs cult: Why don't you go use Windows Notepad?

Emacs user: the C- and M- notation is not as intutive as Ctrl+ and Alt+. I understand the historical reasons, perhaps we can make the notation change?

Emacs cult: if this poses a problem for you, may i suggest Windows Notepad?