emacs-erc
[Top][All Lists]
Advanced

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

bug#64478: 30.0.50; ERC 5.6: Improve and deprecate erc-server-select


From: J.P.
Subject: bug#64478: 30.0.50; ERC 5.6: Improve and deprecate erc-server-select
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2023 07:18:30 -0700
User-agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13)

Tags: patch

The command `erc-server-select' has long been considered a UX liability
by many familiar with ERC, and yet it still appears among the handful of
"erc-" prefixed entry points on offer when typing M-x erc TAB. So it's
no wonder that folks complaining about ERC's brokenness often mention
this command when pressed for details. What I imagine typically happens
is that new folks find it succeeds initially but quickly grow frustrated
once authentication becomes a concern (which it necessarily does because
network documentation often emphasizes it). And even if these folks
eventually figure out that the lack of prompting for vital parameters
(like a nickname) means they're expected to convey such info via user
options, they likely don't take kindly to discovering certain channels
are off limits because the command isn't TLS aware.

Although I'd prefer we somehow salvage `erc-server-select' (and other
public items residing near the bottom of erc-networks.el [1]), we must
also account for our meager manpower reserves and factor in all the
would-be users continuously lost to negative experiences while we await
whatever volunteer do-gooder may eventually emerge to take this on. At a
minimum, I'd expect such a makeover to include some means of offering
TLS, likely by extending `erc-server-alist' somehow while also shedding
obsolete members in its default value (and hunting down updated values
where warranted). I'd also think some mention in the doc string of
essential user options that influence the connection, like `erc-nick',
would be in order, as well as possibly migrating the command to erc.el.
I've taken a stab at the lowest-hanging bits but have left the most
laborious, namely, updating `erc-server-select', for any takers who feel
up for the challenge. While it's heavy on leg work, it's relatively
light on ERC know how and thus a good(TM) first issue. If that's you
[2], please keep us in the loop by announcing your intentions so we can
possibly reconsider deprecation.

Thanks.


[1] Someday, I do plan on revisiting at least one specific user-facing
    item at the bottom of erc-networks.el, namely, `erc-settings', which
    seems oriented toward users coming from traditional clients where
    connections are configured centrally. As I've mentioned elsewhere,
    we need something akin to (but more flexible than) connection-local
    variables to allow users to leverage existing user options but
    tailor them to various context-specific "scopes," like
    network/nick/channel, etc. Because this option is currently
    nonfunctional and its doc string notes it as being experimental, I
    believe we'd be free to repurpose it with impunity for some role in
    this new imagined paradigm.

[2] The list weighs in at almost 400 lines, so you'll need to assign
    copyright if not already on the books.



In GNU Emacs 30.0.50 (build 3, x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, GTK+ Version
 3.24.38, cairo version 1.17.6) of 2023-07-04 built on localhost
Repository revision: e37b96432b89521871e947f322545f154547dd1b
Repository branch: master
Windowing system distributor 'The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.12014000
System Description: Fedora Linux 37 (Workstation Edition)

Configured using:
 'configure --enable-check-lisp-object-type --enable-checking=yes,glyphs
 'CFLAGS=-O0 -g3'
 PKG_CONFIG_PATH=:/usr/lib64/pkgconfig:/usr/share/pkgconfig'

Configured features:
ACL CAIRO DBUS FREETYPE GIF GLIB GMP GNUTLS GPM GSETTINGS HARFBUZZ JPEG
JSON LCMS2 LIBOTF LIBSELINUX LIBSYSTEMD LIBXML2 M17N_FLT MODULES NOTIFY
INOTIFY PDUMPER PNG RSVG SECCOMP SOUND SQLITE3 THREADS TIFF
TOOLKIT_SCROLL_BARS WEBP X11 XDBE XIM XINPUT2 XPM GTK3 ZLIB

Important settings:
  value of $LANG: en_US.UTF-8
  value of $XMODIFIERS: @im=ibus
  locale-coding-system: utf-8-unix

Major mode: Lisp Interaction

Minor modes in effect:
  tooltip-mode: t
  global-eldoc-mode: t
  eldoc-mode: t
  show-paren-mode: t
  electric-indent-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  tool-bar-mode: t
  menu-bar-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  blink-cursor-mode: t
  line-number-mode: t
  indent-tabs-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t
  auto-composition-mode: t
  auto-encryption-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t

Load-path shadows:
None found.

Features:
(shadow sort mail-extr emacsbug message mailcap yank-media puny dired
dired-loaddefs rfc822 mml mml-sec epa derived epg rfc6068 epg-config
gnus-util text-property-search time-date mm-decode mm-bodies mm-encode
mail-parse rfc2231 mailabbrev gmm-utils mailheader sendmail rfc2047
rfc2045 ietf-drums mm-util mail-prsvr mail-utils erc auth-source cl-seq
eieio eieio-core cl-macs password-cache json subr-x map format-spec
cl-loaddefs cl-lib erc-backend erc-networks byte-opt gv bytecomp
byte-compile erc-common erc-compat erc-loaddefs rmc iso-transl tooltip
cconv eldoc paren electric uniquify ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type
elisp-mode mwheel term/x-win x-win term/common-win x-dnd tool-bar dnd
fontset image regexp-opt fringe tabulated-list replace newcomment
text-mode lisp-mode prog-mode register page tab-bar menu-bar rfn-eshadow
isearch easymenu timer select scroll-bar mouse jit-lock font-lock syntax
font-core term/tty-colors frame minibuffer nadvice seq simple cl-generic
indonesian philippine cham georgian utf-8-lang misc-lang vietnamese
tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean japanese eucjp-ms cp51932 hebrew greek
romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian cyrillic chinese
composite emoji-zwj charscript charprop case-table epa-hook
jka-cmpr-hook help abbrev obarray oclosure cl-preloaded button loaddefs
theme-loaddefs faces cus-face macroexp files window text-properties
overlay sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule custom widget keymap
hashtable-print-readable backquote threads dbusbind inotify lcms2
dynamic-setting system-font-setting font-render-setting cairo gtk
x-toolkit xinput2 x multi-tty move-toolbar make-network-process emacs)

Memory information:
((conses 16 64567 9442) (symbols 48 8587 0) (strings 32 23303 1404)
 (string-bytes 1 675756) (vectors 16 15005)
 (vector-slots 8 207155 9292) (floats 8 24 27) (intervals 56 228 0)
 (buffers 976 10))

Attachment: 0001-5.6-Deprecate-erc-server-alist-and-erc-server-select.patch
Description: Text Data


reply via email to

[Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread]