Re: Short explanation for & in key ! of dired

[David Kastrup]

Miles Bader <address@hidden> writes:

> address@hidden writes:
>>> Another usual problem for newbies to how to execute multiple
>>> commands asynchronously.  The trick is to rename the existing
>>> buffer *Async Shell Command*, but this is unobvious.
>>
>> Many times I thought to myself I'd prepare a patch to let the async
>> buffer be renamed when prefixing c-u, like shell buffers, but I've never
>> gotten around to it.
>
> I'd like C-u to just discard output, since 99% of the time, that's what
> people really want these days.  Actually I'd like to make that default.

If I want different commands accumulating asynchronous output, I'll open
shell buffers for them.  When I start a command asynchronously, I don't
want it interfering with my normal operation.  The asynchronous buffer
is a nuisance in that regard.  It's also a nuisance that commands
started that way will die together with Emacs when Emacs is stopped.

If we gain a new command M-&, I would not particularly mind the current
M-! behavior for background commands (I would just likely never use it).
But I definitely would want to have M-& to dissociate the commands it
starts.  That would be a new command, yes, not a variation of the old
one.  I can live with that.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum