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Comment by jshaqaw | Hacker News Reader

Obsessive hacker tools like Emacs are not a productivity enhancer. But If you find them fun go for it. You are allowed to have fun. You are allowed to enjoy your environment. If tinkering with Emacs is fun for you go for it. It's prob not replacing mental cycles for "productive" work. It's replacing zoning out with social media or YouTube between productive work times.

I can't justify using Emacs myself on a productivity basis. But working in an environment I think is fun while being productive makes me marginally happier.

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Which is kind of what I was arguing. Understand that having "fun" is not necessarily equivalent to being "productive". And even by an individuals own standards, the two can be completely different.

If you are having fun, and it's a hobby: who cares? If it's in the professional setting, make sure what you are doing is not actually wasting time and/or money, i.e. be productive.

If my measured productivity decreases but my ability to find joy in what I do increases, it's probably worth it. Not to mention the second-order productivity boost that comes along with enjoying one's work.

> Obsessive hacker tools like Emacs are not a productivity enhancer.

Emacs wouldn't survive if it didn't provide a net benefit to its users.

This is an objectively idiotic and uninformed take.

Do you people think we spend our weekends tweaking our configs because that is how we get our fun? Some do, sure, the vast majority have created their config once and find themselves more productive compared to whatever alternative you might be suggesting. Configuring vim or eMacs is an investment, as you are likely to still see it around in 20 years. Being familiar with one’s tools is the key to productivity.

Calling it an ‘obsessive hacker tool’ just shows you don’t know what you’re talking about, but come with preconceived notions about why people prefer other tools.

I spend my weekends enjoying life and my family but I guess that’s just part of my objectively idiotic take on life.

> Obsessive hacker tools like Emacs are not a productivity enhancer.

This is intellectually dishonest framing. "obsessive hacker tools" is incoherent -- it's not the tool that is obsessive or a hacker. I don't obsessively hack emacs--I barely know elisp--and emacs is very much a productivity enhancer for me. The main benefit of the hackability of emacs for me is that hackers write useful packages for it that I occasionally run across and install.

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