Re: A gentle introduction to Emacs & Org-mode?

[Leonard Avery Randall <leonard.a.randall@gmail.com>]

Hi Marcin

I switched from Scrivener to org-mode about 11 months ago.  I would say
the biggest hurdles were getting used to the key bindings, and
configuring the back-ends.  The emacs tutorial was fairly useful. For
the Org-Mode key bindings, I just printed out the starter pdf and put it
next to my computer for a while.  Regarding the build, I tried several
distros and I found vanilla emacs with prelude to be most useful for me
as a beginner.  (Some people advise against starter packs, and I would
try to move away from the prelude custom key bindings, but the packages
it includes are fairly useful.  It is also fairly easy to customise).

Regarding writing in org-mode.  Does your friend use MMD and latex with
Scrivener?  If so the transition is not nearly as difficult. Some of the
markup is similar. If he uses rich text rather than MMD, it is worth
noting that Scrivener has facilities to transform rich text into MMD.
Once you have that, you can use regex searches to convert MMD syntax to
org syntax.  (I have some regex functions kicking around somewhere in my
init files, let me know if you want me to find them and send them to
you).  If he has a latex setup he likes, he should be able to move it
into his init file without too much effort.  (Worg and the org guide is
fairly useful for helping you figure out how to configure the
back-ends). If he does not already use latex the transition may be
harder, depending on how specific his formatting and citation
requirements are.  It will probably still be doable, but probably not in
two days.

Hope this helps,
All best,
Leonard


Marcin Borkowski writes:

> Hi list,
>
> this is only partially Org-ode related, but I hope I'll be excused.
> A friend of mine uses Scrivener; he also does some simple
> JavaScript/jQuery programming and HTML/CSS editing.  He *is* interested
> in Emacs & Org-mode, but does not want to spend more than, say, 2 days
> on installing, configuring and learning basics of E&Om.  Are there any
> resources which might help?  I offered him some help with installing
> and teaching, but what could I use?  (Of course, the built-in tutorial
> and Sacha Chua's sketch-tutorials are great, but what else does there
> exist?  Also, is prelude or Emacs Starter Kit a good idea?  I
> understand this is opinion-based, but maybe someone has some experience
> *teaching* Emacs and Org-mode?)
>
> Best,

-- 
Leonard A. Randall
PhD Candidate
Departments of Philosophy
University of St Andrews