Emacs is alright. I like the following about it:
org-modemagitelispinterpreter first, text editor for convenience
That’s about it.
The following is my actual emacs configuration file. It’s written in an org-mode document which allows for code execution and as a result a literate configuration file.
Usually when someone makes one of these it’s because they have a lot of opinions. I have one because I needed an excuse to purge.
I’m whatever the opposite of as a power user is. My goal is to remove usability, while also configuring as little as possible.
straight.el is super cool, let’s you poke around and edit packages really easily.
(defvar bootstrap-version)
(let ((bootstrap-file
(expand-file-name "straight/repos/straight.el/bootstrap.el" user-emacs-directory))
(bootstrap-version 5))
(unless (file-exists-p bootstrap-file)
(with-current-buffer
(url-retrieve-synchronously
"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raxod502/straight.el/develop/install.el"
'silent 'inhibit-cookies)
(goto-char (point-max))
(eval-print-last-sexp)))
(load bootstrap-file nil 'nomessage))(straight-use-package 'use-package)
(use-package straight
:custom (straight-use-package-by-default t))When emacs is run as a GUI app add environment variables from shell.
(use-package exec-path-from-shell)
(when (memq window-system '(mac ns x))
(exec-path-from-shell-initialize))(custom-set-faces '(default ((t (:font "Monaco" :height 110)))))Who needs it.
(setq inhibit-startup-screen t)Get over it.
(setq-default indent-tabs-mode nil)
(setq-default tab-width 4)Why not.
(global-auto-revert-mode t)Stop cluttering my shit emacs.
(setq backup-directory-alist
`(("." . ,(concat user-emacs-directory "backups"))))Mostly boring changes, that makes my life less functional.
Syntax highlighting is off by default? Wild.
(global-font-lock-mode 1)I like wrapping lines sue me.
(global-visual-line-mode 1)Just using doom-one lately, it’s good.
(use-package doom-themes)
(load-theme 'doom-one t)I used to try and sync the internal border width to other applications, but nowadays I just use 16 which has been a sensible default. Also just make vertical borders go away.
(add-to-list 'default-frame-alist '(internal-border-width . 16))
(set-face-background 'vertical-border (face-background 'default))
(set-face-foreground 'vertical-border (face-background 'vertical-border))I tried to find a balance of my usual tendency to remove anything functional, by leaving two functional things on my mode-line.
(setq-default mode-line-format
(list
'(:eval (propertize "%b"))
'(:eval (if (buffer-modified-p)
(propertize " ● " 'face '(:foreground "#ff6c6b"))
(propertize " ● " 'face '(:foreground "#98be65"))))
'(:eval (propertize "%l"))
'(:eval (propertize " ● " 'face '(:foreground "#5B6268")))
'(:eval (propertize "%m"))))
(set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil
:background (face-background 'default))
(set-face-attribute 'mode-line-inactive nil
:background (face-background 'default))Honestly the ones I do bother using are essentially what keeps me on emacs. I’m sure at this point they’ve all been replicated to some degree in any major text editor, but whatever.
I can imagine a world where I don’t use a modular text editor. It would be less enjoyable though.
I don’t really like how much configuration I have for evil honestly. Lots of hold over that isn’t particularily useful.
(use-package evil
:init
(setq evil-want-integration nil)
(setq evil-want-keybinding nil)
:config
(evil-mode t))Using evil-collection prevents me from thinking which is a positive.
(use-package evil-collection
:after evil
:init (evil-collection-init))Used to use the evil-leader package to uphold old vim habits. Now it’s just a map cause it’s exactly the same thing. Honestly makes the concept of leaders very confusing, but I also don’t remember why it worked that way in the first place.
(defvar my-leader-map
(make-sparse-keymap)
"Keymap for 'leader key' shortcuts.")
(evil-define-key 'normal global-map "," my-leader-map)
(define-key my-leader-map "q" 'find-file)
(define-key my-leader-map "e" 'consult-recent-file)
(define-key my-leader-map "r" 'consult-grep)
(define-key my-leader-map "b" 'consult-buffer)
(define-key my-leader-map "n" 'rename-buffer)
(define-key my-leader-map "z" 'previous-buffer)
(define-key my-leader-map "x" 'next-buffer)
(define-key my-leader-map "c" 'kill-buffer)
(define-key my-leader-map "v" 'split-window-below)
(define-key my-leader-map "h" 'split-window-right)
(define-key my-leader-map "w" 'other-window)
(define-key my-leader-map "t" 'multi-term)
(define-key my-leader-map "g" 'magit-status)
(define-key my-leader-map "p" (lambda () (interactive)
(load "~/.emacs.d/init.el")))Scarcely used, but it does feel good to save like 1 keystroke to add quote marks or brackets. I imagine there is a better solution.
(use-package evil-surround
:after evil
:config
(global-evil-surround-mode t))The sales pitch for org is a little complicated. It’s really just markdown editing, with some funny built in stuff. 99% of which I don’t use. It does support code execution out the box with org-babel and makes this file possible, so that’s cool.
(use-package org
:init
(progn (add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.org\\'" . org-mode))
(setq org-startup-indented t)))I like the little arrow. It’s how I write physical notes. Ya know? The groceries and exestential algorithm ones.
(use-package org-bullets
:init
(setq org-bullets-bullet-list
'("⮑"))
:config
(add-hook 'org-mode-hook (lambda () (org-bullets-mode 1))))Emacs has a funny habit of changing a lot of formatting to be non-uniform. In org it’s in headers. This undoes the most egregious cases.
(set-face-attribute 'org-document-title nil
:height 1.0
:weight 'normal)
(defun my/org-mode-hook ()
(dolist (face '(org-level-1
org-level-2
org-level-3
org-level-4
org-level-5))
(set-face-attribute face nil :weight 'semi-bold :height 1.0)))
(add-hook 'org-mode-hook #'my/org-mode-hook)Using a raw t as a bind in org-mode is pretty wild. I must have needed to update to-do items constantly in the past.
(evil-define-key 'normal org-mode-map
(kbd "t") 'org-todo
(kbd "M-k") 'org-prev-superior
(kbd "M-j") 'org-next-superior
(kbd "M-h") 'org-promote-subtree
(kbd "M-l") 'org-demote-subtree)Magit makes me reconsider what the UX experience should be for every piece of software I use for programming. No configuration necessary.
(use-package magit)Tramp is very good. It might not be unique, but it functions in a way where it works how I expect everytime. Primary way I edit remote files.
(setq tramp-default-method "ssh")
(eval-after-load 'tramp '(setenv "SHELL" "/bin/bash"))Had a phase where I tried to exclusivly use terminals within emacs, but there was always some compatibility issue no matter the amount of configuration. Now I just use default multi-term with zsh. Boring.
I was really into the idea of vterm for a bit and then just didn’t care after it failed to compile one time.
(use-package multi-term)Most configurations I make for an editor are just things that make me feel better. I’m convinced the only configuration changes that give me efficiency gains are for whatever search framework I’m using. It’s the least cognitive task that I do the most.
Historically that’s been with helm, but I’m giving the whole meme stack a try because helm always felt like I was one button away from disaster at any moment.
Why vertico? It uses the built in emacs commands which seems nice. All the tiny ones seem similar enough.
Extends minibuffer tasks to our narrowing framework.
(use-package vertico)
(vertico-mode)Gives minibuffer a “fuzzier” search.
(use-package orderless)
(setq completion-styles '(orderless basic))Add context to minibuffer options.
(use-package marginalia)
(marginalia-mode)Not sure if I like consult or not. Seems a bit overkill for my needs.
(use-package consult)
(recentf-mode)
(consult-customize consult-buffer consult-recent-file consult-grep :preview-key nil)Largly emacs language “mode” support is pretty good out of the box, and I don’t need much besides that.
I’ve been using black for a bit now. Is it better then any other python formatter? No idea.
(use-package python-black
:after python
:hook (python-mode . python-black-on-save-mode-enable-dwim))Web mode is ok, I never think about it. I used to be a big emmet fan. One day I didn’t have it in my config and never bothered to re-add it. My life remained the same.
(use-package web-mode
:ensure t
:mode
("\\.ejs\\'" "\\.hbs\\'" "\\.html\\'" "\\.php\\'" "\\.[jt]sx?\\'")
:config
(setq web-mode-content-types-alist '(("jsx" . "\\.[jt]sx?\\'")))
(setq web-mode-enable-auto-pairing t)
(setq web-mode-enable-auto-closing t)
(setq web-mode-enable-current-element-highlight t))People said this was cool. I don’t really get it.
(use-package tree-sitter)
(use-package tree-sitter-langs)
(global-tree-sitter-mode)
(add-hook 'tree-sitter-after-on-hook #'tree-sitter-hl-mode)Anything I don’t feel like explaining to myself or phantoms.
(use-package rainbow-mode)
(use-package emojify)
(use-package yaml-mode)Ok good luck.