Re: [Emacs-diffs] /srv/bzr/emacs/trunk r99650: Put scroll-bar on right by default on UNIX.

[Richard Stallman]

    IMHO, if what RMS says about the newcomers' convenience having
    preference is the definitive criteria (and I think it is a good one)
    scrollbars should be on the right, where most people expect to see them
    nowadays and thus decrease the weird/intimidating first impression that
    Emacs may convey on prospective users.

Concern for newcomers does not necessarily mean doing what they
EXPECT.  It means doing what is useful for them.  Their previous
expectations are part of that question, but not necessarily the whole
of it.

It could be useful to ask some fairly new users to try both ways for a
few days and see what they prefer.  But even that is only part of it,
since the real question is what guides them to become better advanced
users subsequently.

Perhaps what we want to do is teach them not to use the scroll bar any
more.  If so, putting GTK scroll bars on the right might be good.