From: mschulter AT  DOT value DOT net (M. Schulter)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject: Re: Emacs diskspace usage
Date: 14 Aug 1997 22:04:59 GMT
Organization: Value Net Internetwork Services Inc.
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To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
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Orlando Andico (orly AT gibson DOT eee DOT upd DOT edu DOT ph) wrote:

: I mean, most DOS people do NOT use AucTeX, GNUS, VHDL, HTML, FORTRAN,
: or most everything else. Just plain C-mode.

Hi, there.

Actually, as someone who uses Emacs considerably more frequently for
PostScript or TeX than for C (a great C-mode, too), I would say that Emacs
lets you do a great deal with a few DOS batch files and customized .el
files, not to speak of the more ambitious packages out there.

I haven't yet installed AucTeX, although I have the archive and am
considering it. In the meantime, though, it's easy to run TeX/dvips and
my PostScript interpreter and graphics viewer for its .pcx or .gif output
as a single Shell Command from within Emacs (calling a batch file). I even
have a special batch file for MusicTeX.

Plain TeX-mode has some great features already, and of course I'm free to
install AucTeX for even more features.

For PostScript editing and previewing, all I needed to create were some
batch files to run the PS interpreter and virtual page graphics viewer
(PICEM, which supports Hercules Graphics at 720x348x2), and a set .el
files to map function keys for different options -- plus Emacs startup
batch files to load the .el file I want for a given function key mapping. 

Then it's just "push and play": F7 to preview at 200 dpi with normal
halftoning, say; F6 for 200 dpi with error diffusion dither (better for
most grayscale images on a Hercules monitor); F8 for 300 dpi with error
diffusion dither; and F9 for 400 dpi with this option. To determine the
BoundingBox comment for an Encapsulated PostScript illustration after I've
coded it, I just press F5 -- and see the illustration with a page
coordinate grid so I can identify the coordinates for that bounding box.

In any case, I would consider extensibility a virtue, not a flaw. If a
user chooses to take advantage of optional packages, so much the better
for Emacs and the user. It's a matter of choice, and Emacs gives lots of
options indeed to DOS users.

Most respectfully,

Margo Schulter
mschulter AT value DOT net