Re: dired default Feature request

[David Kastrup]

>>>>> "Eli" == Eli Zaretskii <eliz@is.elta.co.il> writes:

    Eli> On Thu, 1 Nov 2001, 
=?utf-8?b?0KE=?=.=?utf-8?b?0JE=?=.=?utf-8?b?0J/QvtC60YDQvtCy0YHQutC40Lk=?= 
wrote:

    >> I suggest that both
    >> 
    >> dired-recursive-deletes and
    >> dired-recursive-copies
    >> 
    >> should default to 'top.  IMHO this is much more common behavior
    >> for a file manager (e.g. MidnightCommander, M$ Windows
    >> Explorer), it is more convenient as sufficiently safe (the user
    >> is asked to confirm the action).

    Eli> OTOH, I think Unix and GNU/Linux users are used to the
    Eli> current default.

I veto that.  I am a seasoned Unix user and of course I know that rm
fails on directories.  But that does not make me expect that the
removal command in a file browser will fail because of that.  I second
the original request, and it is that, by the way, which I have
configured dired to do, anyway.

It is reasonably safe (it asks, after all), and convenient.  My love
for Unix does not extend that far that I would like a tool like dired
to mimic the limited capabilities of system calls.  If I'd wanted
that, I'd use M-! rm instead of dired.

Unless you can come up with a compelling reason beyond nostalgia, I'd
recommend changing the default.  Sure, not to deletion without
question, but deletion with top level question should be ok.

After all, I have marked the file for deletion, and I have executed a
delete command, and when I answer positively to the question that I
want the file deleted, it is reasonably safe to assume that I want it
deleted.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum
Email: David.Kastrup@t-online.de