bug#23033: 24.5; Lock file uses the same extension as the file it's locking

[Stefan Kangas]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Michael Sloan <mgsloan@gmail.com>
>> Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2019 23:17:16 -0700
>> Cc: 23033@debbugs.gnu.org
>> 
>> Correct, it is easy to fix in the tens of thousands of places where it can 
>> cause misbehavior :)  But it is probably
>> easier to fix it one place.
>
> Easier for whom?

For humanity, taken as a whole, I think.  :-)

> These tools all have bugs: they choke on symlinks that point to
> non-existent targets.  There could be symlinks like that which have
> nothing to do with Emacs's lock files.  So from my POV we did those
> tools a favor by exposing their bugs ;-)  I see no reason to sweep
> the bugs of those packages under the carpet so as to make it easier
> for their developers to keep those bugs.

I agree with the general sentiment, but consider the amount of bugs
that Michael linked where the name "emacs" crops up.  Appearances
matters, to a certain extent.  To my mind it would be preferable, in
general, if we could avoid having a bunch of bug reports (because of
someone elses sloppiness in this case, yes) where it initially and
incorrectly may look like the culprit is "Emacs and its backwards
practices".

More importantly, I think, is what I mentioned before: this could
inconvenience users trying to run stuff using "find -iname '*.c'" and
the like, only to run into emacs lock files.  I do expect the tools
above to get their house in order and just Fix Their Bugs, but random
users doing one-offs is a different question.

That said, I don't feel super strongly about this.  I consider it a
minor cosmetic blemish.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas