Re: change cursor type when idle

[Dan Nicolaescu]

"Juanma Barranquero" <address@hidden> writes:

  > On Feb 12, 2008 7:07 PM, Dan Nicolaescu <address@hidden> wrote:
  > 
  > > Sorry, but IMHO such a feature (cua-read-only-cursor-color, or the
  > > similar one in Drew's package) does not seem useful for the majority of
  > > emacs users.  [...]
  > >
  > >   > (setq cua-normal-cursor-color    '(box . "white")
  > >   >       cua-overwrite-cursor-color '(hollow . "red")
  > >           ^^^^^^^^^^^
  > > IMHO this  is useful, and it should be in generic code.
  > 
  > I would like to hear any objective arguments about the usefulness of
  > an overwrite-mode cursor and the non-usefulness of a read-only-mode
  > cursor.

overwrite-mode cursor:
  - this wheel has been invented elsewhere and has been in wide use in
  many editors for a long time.
  - bad things happen if you don't notice that you've accidentally
  pressed "Insert" and continue typing. A visual clue is an extra aid
  for the user.

read-only-mode cursor:
  - I am not familiar with a similar feature elsewhere.
  - The fact that you can't input text is a good enough indication that
  the buffer if read-only. Changing the cursor in this case needs added
  code and documentation.   _I_ can see no benefit to the users from this.