I started using the original TECO based Emacs on TOPS-20 at CMU in maybe 1980, so much better than the line editor of the time.

And I used Emacs (on Linux) this morning.

Let me know if you remember the DEC20 and the dreaded “not running” message that happened to everyone in the room when it went down.

Also interested if you remember Gosling Emacs, the first rewrite for Unix. James Gosling of Java fame.

If you're feeling curious at trying Emacs out for the first time (or just want to see what's new in the past decade or so), may I humbly suggest you take a look at my starter config: https://codeberg.org/ashton314/emacs-bedrock

When I first started using Emacs, my dad gave me his config. (Yes, I actually experienced https://xkcd.com/297/ irl.) A few years ago a friend of mine asked for some help getting a simpler Emacs setup—they wanted to move off of Doom Emacs. I made Bedrock as a bare-bones starting point that focuses on built-in customization and understandability. Even if you're comfortable in your own setup, you might find something useful in the files there. :)