> What does your sequence of commands mean in English?
This time I tested it to make sure that I say the right bindings:
1. Go to the beginning of the line (C-a)
2. Find the n'th column (n * C-s |)
3. Activate the mark (C-SPC)
4. Go to the next column (C-s |)
5. Kill the region (C-w)
6. Go to the column you want (m * C-s/C-r |)
7. Insert the region (C-y)
> How natural is it to express?
To me it is instinctive.
> How much scripting and packaging does it require?
None, these are all basic commands.
> How much extra memorizing does it require?
All you need to know is how to record a macro.
> Yes, I am talking about interfaces, not software. I was talking about the interface that Emacs offers by default.
But then you are comparing different apples to oranges? But even if we are comparing vim/kak the interface to Emacs' default interface, I still don't think the difference is that big. The main difference is that vim/kak are parts of the terminal workflow, while Emacs is a shell onto itself.
> Multiple cursors give instant feedback, this is a big advantage over blindly shooting macros at your text.
You have instant feedback while recording a macro too? You can even make it interactive, and insert a query into your macros to make it easier for you to distinguish between false-positives and the actual places you want to apply macros.
> M-q is an example, it formats the current paragraph. What if I want to format something other that a paragraph? In Emacs, you will need a new shortcut and a new keybinding for that.
You'd usually have a DWIM command, e.g. that it formats the region, but default to the paragraph if nothing else is selected. I have the feeling you are making this out to be a bigger difference than it actually is.
What I think is the mistake is that vim/kak are all just interfaces, while Emacs is software. Emacs can steal anything that any other program does, and have it combined with it's existing strengths, like the ball of mud that it is. And even without emulation modes, there is inherently nothing in Emacs that is stopping it from using the same kind of sentence mentality you are talking about (and that I am familiar with, I have used both, but prefer Emacs).
> In Emacs, you'd need a separate plugin for each of these, wouldn't you?
Plugin is the wrong word, you mean package, but not necessarily. Emacs has syntactic commands, that can operate on a major-mode specific definition of expressions, sentences, top-level definitions (defuns).
To do what you did in your example, I'd just use macros, recording this sequence:
C-a M-SPC C-s | (repeat C-s to select the column you want) C-w (again move cursors where you want to paste things) M-w
and then repeat that for all the following lines. Multiple cursors are just visualized macros, after all.
What do you mean by ad-hoc? They seem to me be chosen and bound by default, because they are useful in practice.
> Kakoune, on the other hand, gives you a language that can express most of those operations naturally. And the language is no different than the one you use for other everyday tasks, no need to memorize new shortcuts.
Could you point me to some example?
And I am not sure if what you say about Emacs is necessarily true, you could have a minor mode that modifies the default keys to work with text tables. Org-mode's table implementation is a good example for that.
> At the same time, it doesn't add anything useful to editing itself. It's basically scriptable MS Notepad.
I don't know, fill-paragraph (M-q), the sexp commands, transpose commands, upcase-downcase-capitalize commands, indent-rigidly are all built-in, bound by default and I use them a lot. And let's not forget Macros.
I totally agree, for whatever reason it's decreasing. The reason I mention hallway conversations is that that's the way OP or any non-statistician would perceive these things. That's why he says
> nobody's f*ing or even dating at all.
while your link claims
> In 2015, 41% of high school students reported having sexual intercourse.
Ok, there's been more education on STDs and teen pregnancy, but even still, because of WhatsApp/Facebook messenger, a lot of what used to happen in the hallways (or at least how Hollywood depicts it) can how be "virtually" hidden.
Don't talk about it to outsiders, it's really nothing new, just easier to not accidentally slip that you were at a party someone else wasn't invited to.
> I've never heard anyone even talk about a party, nobody's doing anything stronger than weed, nobody's fucking or even dating at all.
That's easy to explain: You don't have to talk about these things anymore, because of IM & co.. It's all still happening, but it's easier to hide it from the "dweebs". I've seen both sides, and it's really surprising how well this unwritten system works. At best you realize a few years or decades later.