Path: utzoo!telly!ddsw1!lll-winken!killer!mit-eddie!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!WIND.BELLCORE.COM!mlittman
From: mlittman@WIND.BELLCORE.COM (Michael Littman)
Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.bug
Subject: Administering Emacs (summary)
Message-ID: <8810211339.AA15071@wind.bellcore.com>
Date: 21 Oct 88 13:39:51 GMT
Sender: daemon@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Distribution: gnu
Organization: GNUs Not Usenet
Lines: 50

Hi all,

	A few weeks ago I sent a message asking some questions to get
me started in administering Emacs.  People have asked me to summarize
so here goes:

* How do you get emacs to load site specific files?
=> Use site-load.el and site-init.el when compiling emacs.
=> Use default.el for run time changes (sort of a global .emacs file).

* How does one learn to program in emacs lisp?
=> Learn Lisp (Touretzky or Winston and Horne).
=> Read the code in $EMACS/lisp (try simple.el for starters).
=> Emacs Lisp manual via anonymous ftp from a.cs.uiuc.edu in
	~ftp/pub/gnuemacs/elisp.  Get the README file first.
=> Experiment.

* Is there any way to tell rnews to read remote news (stored on
	another machine)? 
=> Remote mount the other machine.
=> Get GNUWS .

* How do you edit a remote file?
=> Use "ftp-find-file" and "ftp-write-file" (standard emacs commands).
=> I am working on simpler functions that use rcp to do the transfer. 

* How do you edit a compressed file?
=> I now have a copy of "z-mode.el" for doing this.  I'll send it if
	anyone wants. 
=> I'm working on my own which will save the file as compressed also.


	To help myself to learn emacs lisp better, I wrote a function
called "big" which allows you to type in big letters:

#      ###  #   # #####       ##### #   #  ###   ####   #   
#       #   #  #  #             #   #   #   #   #       #   
#       #   ###   ###           #   #####   #    ###    #   
#       #   #  #  #             #   #   #   #       #       
#####  ###  #   # #####         #   #   #  ###  ####    # 

	If anyone wants it as an example of a simple-minded function
(or just for fun) let me know.

-MSL
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael S. Littman (MSL) +==>              "An evening without chocolate...
    mlittman@Bellcore.COM                     is like an afternoon without
                                                 chocolate- only later!"
    ((lambda (x) (list (eval x) (list (quote quote) x)))
     (quote (quote (lambda (x) (list (eval x) (list (quote quote) x))))))