bug#67848: 29.1; Fix usage of `setq-default' and add explanation

[Xiyue Deng]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Xiyue Deng <manphiz@gmail.com>
>> Cc: 67848@debbugs.gnu.org
>> Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2023 02:09:29 -0800
>> 
>> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
>> 
>> >> From: Xiyue Deng <manphiz@gmail.com>
>> >> Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2023 03:18:20 -0800
>> >> 
>> >> 
>> > Thanks, but I think it's wrong to use setq-default here, since that
>> > makes Text mode the default major-mode (instead of Fundamental), which
>> > is not what most people would want.
>> 
>> Actually making text-mode the default mode for new files is exactly what
>> the author intended based on the text from an earlier section[1].
>
> I know, but I don't want that to be said without reservations, or not
> at all.  The author's hope was that there will be many readers of this
> manual who are not programmers, and who would then prefer Text mode as
> the default.  We are now a few decades wiser, and we know that hope
> didn't really materialize.  So we should not advertise such a setting
> without some explanations.

While I kind of agree with what you said here, this requires a much
larger rewrite of the text, because there are several paragraphs that
span several sections that follows the author's original advice of
making newly opened files to use text-mode instead of fundamental mode
by default.  Neither being a writer, nor even a native English speaker,
I don't consider myself a good candidate to make such a drastic change
to this classic book.

So instead I added another footnote at the first sentence of this
section to suggest that the suggestion was aimed for writers and the
reader can feel free not to do this.  The new patch is attached.  PTAL.

-- 
Xiyue Deng

0001-Fix-usage-of-setq-default-and-offer-more-suggestions.patch
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