Re: delete-selection-mode

[Juri Linkov]

> You have misconstrued Richard's post.  He went on to say that what is
> useful for newcomers isn't necessarily what they expect or "want".
> There's thus no indication there that he would support the rest of your
> argument.

This is exactly how I understood Richard, and I think delete-selection-mode
is useful for newcomers regardless of whether this is what they expect.

> The answer is to ask them why they want this.  C-w is easy to type, as is
> <delete>.

<delete> is not the same as C-w.  <delete> doesn't clobber the kill ring
with unnecessary text.  This is an important distinction.  How come
a powerful editor has no key to delete the selected region without
saving it in the clipboard.

> Emacs isn't about taking things for granted.  It's about efficiency,
> about minimising keystrokes, about not getting in the users' way.  How
> about improving the documentation/menu-settings/whatever so that these
> beginners find what they're looking for?

I agree that it's about efficiency, and delete-selection-mode minimizes
keystrokes thus it makes faster editing.

-- 
Juri Linkov
http://www.jurta.org/emacs/