Using Emacs 2017 Recap

This past year I recorded 14 Using Emacs videos. This is on top of the 25 videos I made last year. The fall off in production is understandable. I got through my day to day configuration in the late 20s and since then the videos have just been on things I've rediscovered, things that became useful and things that I just found interesting. It was also a busier year.

Why did I start the series? Mostly for my students. There's the built in Emacs tutorial and other beginner resources but how do you go from the basics to a real working configuration? For years I would show my kids Emacs and use it in class but there was never a path for them to follow from beginner to craftsman. I hoped the videos would fill the void.

It probably didn't. I don't think I'm getting greater Emacs adoption from my students but on the other hand, I've found making the series rewarding for other reasons.

First and foremost, it's allowed me to be an active contributing member of the Emacs community. I haven't written any Emacs packages nor am I an active guy on any Emacs forums but this is a way I can do my part.

Second, although there hasn't been a great deal of comments on the videos or blog posts I've gotten to know a few people that I wouldn't have gotten to know otherwise.

It also shows that that if you put things out there people might find it useful. I don't know how many people saw my Emacs posts at the start but a year and half later I've got 1,700 YouTube subscribers. Sure, that's nothing compared to many YouTubers but for a guy making schlocky videos at his desk about an as much as I hate to admit it non-maintream editor, I think it's pretty cool.

The question is what to make videos on moving forward?

I thought I'd throw it out to the community. Here's an embedded poll. Feel free to suggest other topics either on the blog or as a Twitter reply.

I can't promise I'll get to all or any but I'll certainly check out the popular suggestions.

2017-12-29

#emacs