Emacs is a Lifestyle
Recently I came across this tweet about Emacs and its users:
Some of the best programmers I know have been using Emacs for as long as I've known them.
— Sidu Ponnappa 💉💉 (@ponnappa) November 23, 2021
Equally, almost all of them have been setting up their Emacs config for as long as I've known them.
Funny and true at the same time! I casually retweeted it and I immediately forgot about it. A bit later, however, I was mentioned in one response to the tweet that really caught my attention:
Configuring Emacs is more of a lifestyle choice than a task that one completes.
– Stephen A. Ramsey
I think that perfectly captures the spirit of Emacs and the nature of its (most devoted) users. I’d even go a bit farther and make the claim that (using) Emacs is essentially a lifestyle (choice).
After all, none of us were forced to use Emacs. None of us were forced to dedicate years of our lives to building the perfect Emacs configuration. None of us were forced to preach the gospel of the Church of Emacs. We do it all, because in Emacs we find the creative outlet that we’ve been always looking for. We do it, because Emacs gives us the choices that others don’t. We do it, because being pragmatic all the time is boring.
For us Emacs is much more than a mere text editor - it’s part of who we are. Emacs is a lifestyle. Emacs is our lifestyle!