Re: delete-selection-mode

[David Kastrup]

"Berndl, Klaus" <address@hidden> writes:

> The only question is: Do we prefer a default which supports best the
> Emacs gurus using it for 1000 years or a default which drops down the
> entry barriers for people who come from the other planets?

What entry barrier would that be?

> There is no need for trying to convince the "other side" that
> "this-is-the one-and-only-and-best-of-all-way for dealing with
> selections. There is NO one-and-only-way.
>
> Yes, you are right when you say, delete-selection-mode off has some
> advantages, no doubt.

delete-selection-mode interferes with the _Emacs_ way of dealing with
marks.

Personally, I'd be fine to have the equivalent of delete-selection-mode
for mouse-selected areas (where DEL already works) and for
shift-selected areas.

I'm not fine with having delete-selection-mode for by-products of
transient marks occuring during the normal operation of Emacs.

If we want to go there, my vote is for turning off transient-mark-mode
again while keeping the rest (apart from scrapping
mouse-region-delete-keys which is not necessary once
delete-selection-mode is on).  We have temporary transient-mark-mode,
shift-selected transient-mark-mode, mouse-selected transient-mark-mode.
There is a number of ways to express "I really want to set an active
region" as opposed to "I want to set the mark".  Our traditional
mark-xxx keybindings have accompanying kill-xxx keybindings: they don't
need transient-mark-mode/delete-selection-mode.  If you really want to
delete without affecting the kill buffer, presumably C-u C-x C-x DEL
after marking or C-SPC C-SPC before marking would work then _IF_ we keep
the "delete rather than kill the active region" behavior.

Newcomers working with their accustomed keybindings will never notice
that transient-mark-mode is off.  They will get an active region for all
those ways of creating an active region that they are accustomed to.

> But the Emacs team must take a decision: Is it a main goal for Emacs
> to "acquire" many newcomers or is this not a main goal?!

It is a goal, but not a main goal.  And you won't acquire newcomers by
swatting them with inconsistent and incomprehensible overall behavior
for which no rationale can be given.

-- 
David Kastrup