Subject: RE: bug#31125: 26; (emacs) `Highlight Interactively'

From: Drew Adams <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2018 07:27:34 -0700 (PDT)

> We were talking about the user manual, where the reader is not
> necessarily a Lisp programmer.  For the latter, see "Symbols"
> in the ELisp manual.

You replied to my parenthetical remark after I said that
this bug can be closed, which was precisely about the
fact that the Emacs manual does not say anything about
Lisp symbols:

  (It does somehow seem to[o] bad that someone can read
  the entire Emacs manual without knowing anything about
  Lisp symbols, including that there is such a critter.)

This particular discussion is not related to the bug
report, and it is exactly about the fact that the Emacs
manual does (too) little to guide users toward Lisp.

And some knowledge of Lisp is the single most important
aid and guide a user can have, to improve her experience
and use of Emacs.

This discussion is irrelevant to my (misguided) bug
report.  But it is not irrelevant to the user manual.

A reader of the Emacs manual should not _need_ to
know Lisp to be able to read the manual.  But that
doesn't mean the manual should keep completely
clear of Lisp.  It could help, I think, for it to
occasionally point out some connections that can be
helpful for users.