Set up an alternative Emacs configuration
Using Emacs traditionally results in the long-lasting cultivation of a personal configuration.
To try out some alternative configuration, I usually create a
playing field by setting up an extra, dedicated user-account on my
system, using "su -
Emacs 29
The release of Emacs 29 provides a better way to do this.
The NEWS.29 file states:
Emacs now supports setting 'user-emacs-directory' via '--init-directory'.
We can use of this to set up an alternative configuration.
Separate playground
To create a new playground, I set up a directory
~/.alt-emacs.d,
The init.el file inside this directory starts as follows:
;; -*- lexical-binding: t; -*-
(setopt user-emacs-directory "~/.alt-emacs.d/")
The result is a separated environment.
Emacs will use the user-emacs-directory in the same way it uses your ~/.emacs.d/ in the "normal" environment.
For example, when installing packages, Emacs will create the
directory ~/.alt-emacs.d/elpa. The packages of your
"normal" Emacs configuration are not affected by whatever you do in
the playground. Likewise, files like abbrev_defs, custom.el
and so on are stored in the alternative user-emacs-directory.
Usage of the playground
Start Emacs with the --init-dir switch:
emacs --init-dir "~/.alt-emacs.d/"
And have all the fun of crafting a new Emacs configuration and do all kind of experimenting.
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