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Re: [PATCH] Remove obsolete fast-lock and lazy-lock libraries


From: Jeff Norden
Subject: Re: [PATCH] Remove obsolete fast-lock and lazy-lock libraries
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2020 02:00:26 -0500

>   > > IMNSHO, that variable [font-lock-support-mode] should not be a
>   > > defcustom any more and we shouldn't encourage users to touch it.  IOW
>   > > we should mark it obsolete.
>
>   > In other words, deliberately restrict what users can do with Emacs.
>
> That puts a harsh face on a statement which has other interpretations.
> For instance, one can interpret it as contending that supporting
> setting of that variable by users would require a lot of work and the
> benefit would not justify all that work.

I agree.  From my point of view, it seems like the intent of the proposal
was mis-interpreted.  I saw the intent as making it *easier* to do exactly
what was interpreted as being 'deliberately restricted', by providing a
better method which would be simpler, less confusing, and perhaps more
effective.

Another statement that was recently made by Eli in regards to this was:

> OK, but why does that mean we should demote it from being a defcustom?
> People who need to debug font-lock are also users, and being unable to
> change the value through "M-x set-variable" is an annoyance, at least
> for me.

While I think it would actually wind up not being an annoyance, the
statement that 'People who need to debug font-lock are also users' is
something that I wholeheartedly agree with!

In fact, I've personally decided to avoid, as much as possible, the use of
the term 'user' as a pronoun.  People have usernames (and user-passwords)
for logging in.  The term user-interface is helpful, since interface can
refer to many things.  But the person at the keyboard and in front of the
screen is just that - a person.  Of course, there is nothing inherently
wrong with the term 'user'.  But, in many circles (present company excepted)
it seems that 'user' is used to implicitly refer to a subset, often a narrow
subset, of the people who might use software (or anything else).  I think
that using 'person' and 'people' instead of 'user' and 'users' does a better
job of indicating the diversity of folks who might use something.  This
diversity should be given at least some consideration (sometimes a lot),
rather than being shoved under the rug.  Emacs, in particular, does a
better job serving a diverse audience than any other software that I
know of.

Just my 2c, for whatever it might be worth.

Regards,
-Jeff



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