Re: Default of jit-lock-stealth-time

[Stefan Monnier]

>     Regardless of the system load: the load may be low at the moment
>     _exactly_ because the user terminated all processes that would disturb
>     the interactivity of his current work, and I think it a mistake that
>     Emacs considers the CPU fit for grabbing for its own purposes unless
>     the user _explicitly_ asked for it.

> Stealth fontification is intended to stop whenever the user types a
> character.  So why would it interfere with the "interactivity" of
> Emacs commands?  Is there a bug which prevents stealth fontification
> from stopping quickly?

Yes, I know of at least 2 causes:
- it's based on polling and may take a long time before the next poll
- the stealth-fontification causes swapping, and so even if the poll comes
  immediately, pages need to be swapped back in before the user's command
  can complete.


        Stefan