RE: mouse-1-click-follows-link

[Drew Adams]

    >I dislike underlined links --- even on web pages, but as long
    >as I can turn it off, it may be ok...

    Usability surveys has often found that users wants links to be
    underlined (in most situations).

We shouldn't go overboard.

Underlining links is important in _text_, so users can see they are there.
Web pages of text are behind the convention of underlining links for
visibility.

However, it is only distracting to underline links in, say, a table or list
where each entry is a link. Users must know that the table/list contains
links; once they know that, there is no need to highlight each link.

I would argue, for instance, that Dired, grep, and compilation buffers
should have full-line links, for ease of use. But, to use these buffers,
users must be somewhat familiar with them anyway. Given that minimal
familiarity, there is no reason to underline the full-line links - mouseover
highlighting suffices (and underlining is a good choice for mouse-face in
these buffers).

If, however, as RMS and some others prefer, such buffers will not have
full-line links by default, then, yes, the links should be underlined (face,
not just mouse-face), so users can find them.