Re: Blunderbuss ".dir-locals.el" raises everything in its path!!

[Stephen J. Turnbull]

Miles Bader writes:
 > Chong Yidong <address@hidden> writes:
 > >> ! These settings can override those made by a user in his .emacs so
 > >> ! you should be careful not to set variables which are a matter of
 > >> ! personal choice.  You should probably not set @code{c-file-syle}
 > >> ! and @code{c-file-offsets} here (@pxref{File Styles,,,ccmode}).
 > >
 > > But I think we have a basic disagreement here.  A user should feel
 > > free to set directory local variables that override his or her .emacs
 > > settings---exactly like he or she should feel free to write file-local
 > > variables.  The manual has no purpose telling people what to do with
 > > their own files.

I don't understand what you are saying.  The manual has done that
forever!  There is specific advice *not* to set auto-fill mode in
local variables, for example.

And there is good reason for that.  Files are *not* "of the user".
Files are a means of communication.  Sometimes indeed they are memos
to oneself in the future, but more often they are for communicating
with others.

The issue Alan is raising is precisely that *somebody else* is
overriding the user's settings.  I agree with Miles:

 > It also seems downright bizarre to tell people not to set c-file-style
 > in .dir-settings.el -- my sense is that most developers would agree that
 > if a project has C style conventions, they should override the user's
 > personal preferences...

Indeed.  I think that needs to be sorted out here is Alan's intuition
that C style conventions are a matter of personal preference.  IMO if
they are, that's because the user himself is the Benevolent Dictator
for his project, and "everybody has a right to choose to follow
personal preferences, as long as that person is the dictator". :)  Now
that's only my opinion, but it seems to be Miles's, and whoever wrote
the .dir-locals.el in question, and .... :)