Re: delete-selection-mode (was: FW: commands to select things of different kinds)

[Alan Mackenzie]

'Evening, Juri!

On Sun, Apr 20, 2008 at 02:43:36AM +0300, Juri Linkov wrote:
> > I am very much against enabling delete-selection-mode by default.

> I am very surprised.  What could be a reason not to delete the region
> after typing a character when this region was intentionally activated
> specially for doing this.

None whatsoever.  However, by what mechanism can Emacs determine that
deletion was, in fact, the reason the region was "activated", rather
than a wish to save the region for future yanking, to capitalise all the
letters in it, to narrow to it, or to do any of the other infinite
things that regions are for?

That a letter be typed after activating a region in no way signifies the
user wanted to lose the region.  Often, she'll have just forgotten to
pacify it.

Anyways....  the main point of my email: this discussion comes into the
category of "things decided long ago, whose discussion now consumes our
time and energy".  RMS requested very recently that we cease such
discussion.  I've got bugs to fix.

Cheers!

> Juri Linkov

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).