> I'm a big fan of minimal-emacs [1] a compact init.el and early-init.el that configures vanilla emacs into a good, default state. From there I would pick and choose which packages I'm interested by going through the Systemcrafters's community

+1

I found the best way to approach Emacs was to start with an empty init.el and then just start using it. Every time something annoyed me or I thought “there should be a package to do X”, I stopped what I was doing and went hunting…

By doing it this way, you’re actually using it from the start and get to slowly taylor it to your personal needs.

Also, I am not yet an Elisper, and so for the macros I’ve wanted to write, ChatGPT has been really helpful.