Re: .emacs and other config file questions

[Stefan Monnier]

> 1. "customize" versus Do It Yourself?
> =====================================
> Is there a general view as to the pros and cons of using customize
> versus just writing the lisp yourself? Although I know very little lisp,
> I'm inclined towards the latter -- primarily so I'm forced to
> learn. Customize is cool and easy and simple, but I worry it leaves me
> dependent on it. Make sense, or am I just trying to punch nails in with
> my fist when even the cool kids these days use the customize nailgun?
> Found a few items on this, including
> http://article.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.help/25218 which references
> something back in 1999 that I couldn't locate.

If you can, I recommend to write the Lisp yourself in your .emacs rather
than let Customize do it for you.  The only exception is for faces,
where doing it by hand without using Customize is rather painful and
poorly supported.

> 2. Why .gnus (and no, for example, .org)?
> ========================================
> Gnus seems unusual among the many packages in that convention seems
> to dictate we do most of its setup in .gnus, rather than in
> .emacs. Why is that?

No fundamental reason.

> Or is there some stuff that *must* go in .gnus because it makes no
> sense until Gnus is actually run? 

Not that I know, no.

> I'm running primarily on a desktop iMac, but would like to run also from
> a MacBook Pro Laptop. I have DropBox. I also have iDisk (MobileMe). And
> in the past I've used unison. Anyone care to share how they handle their
> config setup (i.e. their use of .emacs, customization, .gnus, and so on)
> where they want the same setup mirrored across multiple machines?

I use a revision control system (Bazaar in my case) to version those
files with a central repository on some Internet-connected host.
That gives you all the features you need for syncing stuff between any
number of machines.


        Stefan