Re: adive to a gnus newbie

[Emanuel Berg]

Dennis Askey <mrascii@sdf.lonestar.org> writes:

>> The gnus document is complicated to me, maybe it is
>> because I am new to gnus.  Now I have the basic
>> setting myself, and read some tutorials.  I am
>> trying to read and understand gnus documents.  It
>> can be painful if you don't know what others talk
>> about gnus for beginners.  Thanks for reply.
>
> I had trouble understanding gnus for the longest time
> until I simply sat down and read the help group that
> gnus automatically shows when you first start it and
> then read section 6.3 Getting Mail in the gnus
> manual.  I used those sources to create a barebones
> ~/.gnus.el.

Yes, Gnus isn't that easy, I thought it was much more
difficult to get into than Emacs in general, which was
straightforward by comparison to my mind...

I hope I don't make anyone angry by saying this, but I
don't care much for reading tutorials. Or, put it this
way - tutorials (and books) come in at a later stage,
when you already have a functional understanding. This
will make for many unpleasant revelations when you find
out that your elaborate hacking can be replaced by
setting a single option (blushes)...

But as said, that is step to. Step one is: get the door
open, by forcing your leg between the door and the
panel. When it is open just a bit, you may turn and
twist your leg to a more comfortable position, and
start refining you methods. So:

1) Use it. For mails and for Usenet posts. Never use
anything else. No exceptions.

2) Learn one thing every day. May be a variable, a
shortcut, a term - whatever as tiny. In 365 days, you
will have acquire 365 such pieces of knowledge (except
for the leap years, when you are even more productive).

3) When you have learned on one such thing, relax, be
happy, and keep using it.

-- 
underground experts united:
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573