Re: [Emacs-diffs] /srv/bzr/emacs/trunk r99650: Put scroll-bar on right by default on UNIX.

[Richard Riley]

Yavor Doganov <address@hidden> writes:

> Chong Yidong wrote:
>> Every graphical user interface created in the last X years puts the
>> scroll bar on the right.
>
> Not true -- on GNUstep it is by default on the left (although it can
> be controlled via the NSScrollViewInterfaceStyle user default which
> was implemented at least 3-4 years ago).

GnuStep is the benchmark? Sheesh ...

>
> David Kastrup wrote:
>> But the scrollbar is on the left for a reason: _if_ you use the mouse
>> for editing, you'll use it more often than not on the left (until Eli's
>> work gets merged).  And the larger the windows are made horizontally,
>> the more of a nuisance it is to move the mouse.
>
> This makes sense to me.  I suspect that's one of the reasons why NeXT
> made such decision.
>

It makes no sense to me. Most people I watch, and myself, position the
mouse on the right hand side of something in which we freetype. The only
time I would use a mouse in emacs would be to hilite a url maybe or to
move the scroll bar and it makes far more sense for that to be on the
right.

Still, if GnuStep has it on the left, well, ....

For me the real reason is this : I read and write left to write. I dont
want a chunk of the left hand side of my screen taken by a control I
rarely use. It seems so obvious that I kind of wonder if I am losing the
plot here and missing something so terribly obvious. But trawling back
through the thread all I see to counter this and obvious consistency
benefits is that GnuStep does it on the left (with dus respect almost
nothing uses GnuStep) and that it minimises mouse movement in an
application that is primarily keyboard driven and then ONLY if the mouse
is on the left to start with. I'm at a loss to see how those "for the
left" think it any way balances out.

Still, clearly there are a core element who feel the left is somehow the
place and I suspect the decision is made. There's probably not more to
add - and thanks for the discussion. Emacs is a wonderful product.