bug#46627: [PATCH] Add new help command 'describe-command'

[Stefan Kangas]

Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> writes:

> Is this really what people do?  I am surprised people find it useful,
> surprised that you can ever find a command name that way.

Yes, we have evidence of this on emacs-devel.  I do it myself at times.

> If you have seen users do it, can you say more about the situations
> where it is effective?

I can't claim that it is the most effective technique in general.
I would use it when I am certain that I almost know the name of a
command -- I would know it if I see it.  In such situations, firing up
apropos is an extra step and not what I want.  Today, I just use `C-h f'
and manually filter for what is likely the command I am looking for.
With `describe-command', this would be a better experience.

But I think the use of `describe-command' goes beyond this one use-case.
In particular, I don't think end-users should need to filter through a
massive, intimidating list of functions when they are just looking for a
command.

(BTW, in the completion framework I often use, `ivy', there is a command
to run the action associated with the minibuffer without leaving the
minibuffer.  That is, I run `C-h f', type in some text to complete on,
and then hit `C-M-n' to repeatedly see the full documentation for a
number of commands.  This is a very effective way to scan for the
correct function, often much more effective than apropos.  But vanilla
Emacs currently does not support this, AFAIK.)