[R] kate editor for R

[Marc Schwartz]

On Sat, 2007-01-20 at 11:20 +0100, Ramon Diaz-Uriarte wrote:
> On 1/20/07, Marc Schwartz <marc_schwartz at comcast.net> wrote:
> > xft anti-aliasing is incorporated into the version 23 unicode trunk.
> >
> > So it looks great on a hi-res LCD panel. Without xft, even using
> > Bitstream fonts, it was still pretty rough on the eyes.
> >
> 
> 
> Humm, call me silly, but most of the time I do not like anti-aliased
> fonts: I tend to agree with
> http://modeemi.cs.tut.fi/~tuomov/ion/faq/entries/Blurred_fonts.html,
> where he says "characters look like having been dragged through mud"
> :-).
> 
> > It also fully supports GTK widgets, which is great if you are using
> > GNOME, which I do.
> >
> 
> But my .emacs gets rid of the toolbar and scroll bars on start-up (I
> find toolbars confusing things that take up precious screen space),
> and often work without the menubar (when I am doing familiar work). I
> use ion3 (http://modeemi.cs.tut.fi/~tuomov/ion/), which, together with
> wmii (and followed, at some distance, by fmwv), I find the most usable
> window managers, and thus the look of widgets is not that relevant to
> me.
> 
> So, for most practical purposes (except for resizing with the mouse) I
> use emacs as if started with the -w command. (I know, I know, this
> looks like going backwards ... must be a mid-life involution crisis
> :-).

We'll drag you kicking and screaming into the 21st century...

;-)

> > xft was added as a patch to version 22, but it was not very stable.
> >
> > Note that version 23 is in alpha status, so use at your own risk if you
> > decide to pursue this. 21 is still the current stable release version,
> > but 23 has been rock solid for me.
> >
> > I can provide you with a shell script to build it. Let me know.
> >
> 
> 
> Let me try with the debian packages, and if I have problems, I'll
> definitely start bugging you. Thanks a lot for your help!
> 
> Best,
> 
> R.

FWIW, here are some screen shots so that you can get a feel for what it
looks like. This is using two 1600x1200 lcd panels.

1. Basic view of main window, showing ECB and ESS:

  http://home.comcast.net/~marc_schwartz/emacs23.png

2. Full screen (3200x1600 using nVidia TwinView) capture to show GTK
file selection widget:

  http://home.comcast.net/~marc_schwartz/emacs23-2.png

3. View of main window to show the integration of SVN version control,
which I use my all of my R code:

  http://home.comcast.net/~marc_schwartz/emacs23-3.png


No doubt that the use of xft is a personal choice, and some folks do not
like it, perhaps notably on CRTs.  As I have gotten older and need
bi-focals for computer work and reading, I find the use of xft much
easier and I am less prone to eye strain, given how many hours I
typically spend working each day.

HTH,

Marc