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Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode)
From: |
Stefan Monnier |
Subject: |
Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode) |
Date: |
Wed, 08 May 2002 09:37:08 -0400 |
> "Stefan Monnier" <monnier+gnu/address@hidden> writes:
>
> I'm not sure whether those users were novices, but even if they were,
> that's not relevant. My point is that fringes are good and if a
> novice removes them because she thinks she doesn't need them, she'll
> probably hit problems later on because of it. We don't break Java's
> memory safety just because some novice Java programmers might ask
> "how do I do pointer arithmetic".
>
> hmmm, you make it sound like turning off fringes incurs some kind of
> threat to emacs' structural integrity or design, which would shock me if
> it were true. [insert console-freak rantings here.]
Admittedly, I forced the tone. But I just feel like users might miss
on the neat fringes just because they think they don't want them.
If you turn off the fringes you lose:
- legibility (chars stuck right next to a window border are more difficult
to read; the fringes act like a margin).
- continuation glyphs (i.e. it's not the same as on console).
- neat icons instead of overlayed text for the gud&edebug overlay arrow.
- various future extensions like mouse bindings in the fringes.
I don't think the tradeoffs are obvious to the first-time user (even if he's
an experienced Emacs user) so she might make the wrong decision. This
is to be contrasted to other "similar" things like the menu-bar, the
tool-bar, the scroll-bar where the user can be reasonably expected to know
what she loses by turning it off.
I'm not saying turning off the fringe should be a hidden feature.
Just that it shouldn't be in the user's face.
Stefan
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), (continued)
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Richard Stallman, 2002/05/09
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Karl Eichwalder, 2002/05/09
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Eli Zaretskii, 2002/05/09
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Karl Eichwalder, 2002/05/09
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Eli Zaretskii, 2002/05/09
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Kai Großjohann, 2002/05/08
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Simon Josefsson, 2002/05/08
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Kai Großjohann, 2002/05/08
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Stefan Monnier, 2002/05/07
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Thien-Thi Nguyen, 2002/05/08
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode),
Stefan Monnier <=
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Richard Stallman, 2002/05/08
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Alex Schroeder, 2002/05/04
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Richard Stallman, 2002/05/04
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Kim F. Storm, 2002/05/04
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Richard Stallman, 2002/05/05
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Kim F. Storm, 2002/05/05
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Eli Zaretskii, 2002/05/06
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Miles Bader, 2002/05/06
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Kim F. Storm, 2002/05/06
- Re: Enhancements to options menu (was Re: Reveal mode), Richard Stallman, 2002/05/06