Re: [Lynx-dev] Proposed patch to init preferred-doc-lang from LANG/LANGUAGE

[Stef Caunter]

On Sat, 28 Apr 2007, Henry Nelson wrote:

> Why do you get that impression?  If the user has no preference or, in
> the case we seem to be discussing here, has no clue as to what AND what
> order of language_s_  he/she prefers, then the best thing is to not force
> some arbitrary prejudices on what the user _might_ prefer, but to leave
> the preference empty, since that is exactly what it is, null.  If the user
> later takes the time to study and gain an appreciation for expressing his/her
> language preference, then he/she can do that easily through Lynx's Option Menu.

Packagers force stuff on users all the time, so it would seem to be the 
appropriate place for it to happen. I have argued that lynx should ship fast, 
slick and mean in a default setup, but since it ships configurable to taste, 
either by packager, sysadmin, or curious user, it becomes a matter of who likes 
what, and we defer to the existing layout.

> Both.  You cannot "auto-detect" the preferences of every single user.

This is only to check for an (exported?) environment variable; lynx users live 
with this all the time whether they know it or not, and environment is 
notoriously unpredictable (e.g. exporting, SSL_CERT_DIR ... ).

> All you can do is make _assumptions_ about what the majority of users
> might prefer.  Setting general, overriding environment variables to
> "auto-detect" a single preference in a particular situation is totally
> illogical.

Stef
http://caunter.ca/contact.html