Re: address@hidden: modeline doesn't divulge buffer will go bye bye]

[Miles Bader]

Jon Cast <address@hidden> writes:
> I really doubt having to type C-x b name n rather than C-x b name
> would be ``mind-bogglingly annoying''.

Superfluous prompts are _always_ annoying, especially for widely used
commands like C-x b.

> However, if it turns out to
> really be annoying, we can always add a defcustom to turn it off.

Even so, it's a poor interface, for several reasons:

 (1) It asks for _every_ new scratch buffer, when seems likely that a
     given user either _usually_ wants to consider them `permanent', or
     _rarely_ does (the current default).

 (2) It asks the question too early, when the user might not really
     know whether he wants to save the buffer.

     I think that asking this sort of `decide now about the future'
     question for a command like `C-x b' (which is often used while in
     the middle of doing some task, to hold some temporary data or
     whatever) can interrupt your train of thought, and so should be
     avoided.

     Alex's suggestion, that by default emacs _assume_ that buffers
     should be saved and queried about before exiting as normal, delays
     the decision until the user has actually done his business with
     the buffer, and probably has a better idea of whether it's
     important or not.

 (3) It asks the question even for scratch buffers that are later
     explicitly killed (with C-x k), something which Alex's method
     avoids.

-miles
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