`emacs` is the greatest operating system ever invented.

Haha... only serious. Actually, it's a very extensible editor for programmers and hackers, created by programmers and hackers with a rich ecosystem making it possible to use as everything from a simple text editor or even your "operating system" that you live inside of.

Over 44 years of development and 24 major releases, emacs has such depth and breadth that it can be so daunting to newcomers they find themselves retreating to the relative safety and comfort of such programs as `pico`, `nano`, and worst of all, `vim`.

That last one was, of course, a joke at vim user's expense, but even if you have never used emacs, you've probably heard of the venerable 'emacs vs vim holy war'. I will say definitively now that everyone is wrong, ed is the standard editor! (see: http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/ed.msg )

So whether you've never heard of emacs, heard all about it and want to see what all the fuss is about, or tried to take a few forays into emacs-land and found yourself lost, this class will help you get started with the basics of operating, configuring, extending, and most importantly, learning emacs.

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What you need to know before you take the class

You should be familiar with the basics of a Unix-like operating system including:

1. Standard directories and filesystem layout
   specifically, what and where your "home" directory is
2. Editing files in an editor in the terminal
   such as configuration files or programming code
3. Basic shell commands and operations
   specifically: creating a directory or file, running programs, etc
4. Some experience with remote operations
   specifically: ssh, scp/rsync, and so on

If you haven't done something in this list before, that's okay, we'll breeze through it, and you can surely find some kind of basic linux tutorial to meet your needs on Google: http://google.com/search?q=linux+tutorials

What will we cover?

The class will cover a bit about the history of emacs, and then dive straight into using emacs interactively. We will go over the following parts of emacs, at least, and possibly more as time and interest allows:

• Basic editing commands and common keybindings

• Windows, buffers, and rings

• Macros and elisp

• Configuration files

• Tour of Modes including but not limited to:

• C-mode, python-mode, lisp-mode, etc

• directory editor (aka, dired)

• man and info

• artist

• organization

• shell and remote access modes

• full IDE modes (specifically, SLIME)

• Emacs package managers

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What does the class cost?

This class costs $20 for anyone who isn't a member of Null Space Labs. You can pay at the door in cash or here on Meetup via WePay. Please arrange payment with datagram, mmca, or bvector for direct Paypal/Bitcoin payments.

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First time visiting NSL?

Check out the walkthrough for getting into the space:

https://www.meetup.com/NullSpaceLabs/pages/How_do_I_get_inside_NSL%3F

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What do I need to bring?

1. Laptop capable of running a debian-based live-cd or VM

ex. Kali Linux from previous classes, Ubuntu live CD, Debian or Ubuntu VM in virtualbox

• or -

2. Macbook, which comes with emacs preinstalled

• or -

3. Risk the internet working and run a VM in the cloud

• or -

4. Be "that guy" running XEmacs or emacs from cygwin on windows in GUI mode (note: the class is focused on emacs on Unix-like systems, so you are in part on your own with this route, but try https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/MsWindowsInstallation )

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Before you come to class:

1. Ensure emacs is installed on your system (note: emacs is installed by default on Mac OS X)

Debian-based OSes can install with the following:

$ sudo apt-get install emacs-nox

2. Ensure emacs starts within your terminal

$ emacs

3. Freak out because you don't know how to close it

(note: Close it with "CTRL+X" followed by "CTRL+C" - that one is free!)

4. Maybe peruse some of the emacs wiki: https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/