Is there a better way to get started with Emacs than the built in tutorial? I've tried a couple times (due to increasing annoyance with VS Code), but have struggled to get to a point where I feel productive enough.
See also my reading guide: https://www.masteringemacs.org/reading-guide
My book is of course an option also, but it costs money.
Just get it already
Folks in the modern age, who want to get up to speed with an old trusty tool, without the biases of other folk getting in the way.
You get up to speed enough, that you can then go find your own way.
Mickey’s writing is conversational yet pithy and laconic. (in a very good way)
TBH, I had used Emacs before VSCode and had accumulated a bunch of cruft in my .emacs configuration, and I never felt it was "mine" anyway...
It also helps to learn upfront the idiosyncratic terms and concepts like buffers, windows, frames, yanking, killing, etc.
Most of these terms map one-to-one to more familiar nomenclature like copy, paste, etc.
Buffers is a concept a bit more unique and integral to emacs. It's easier to understand in practice than in reading.
Most importantly though, emacs is a lisp machine, and exposes the highest level of granularity, and enables the finest level of customization for the user.
No thanks.
Instead, literally just start using it and ask an LLM for help as you go.
The maybe complementary, or at least deterministic source of advice is old school 'M-x info'.