Re: line-move-visual

[Joseph Brenner]

David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> writes:
> Joseph Brenner <doom@kzsu.stanford.edu> writes:

>> If we really can't convince the developers that they need to respect
>> backwards compatibility, an actual solution to the problem might
>> be something like creating a switch that needs to be flipped on to
>> get the new whizzy behavior, something like:
>>
>>   (setq modernize-emacs t)
>>
>> You then recommend that the default ~/.emacs for *new* users should
>> include that line.
>
> That means that new users live in a separate universe where they can't
> expect older users to be able to help them with their setup and usage
> problems.  Because the older users don't even have a clue about what new
> users might be working with.

Yes, and if I'd thought about that issue at all, I might've said
something like:

     Doing something like this would be far better than the current
     practices, though it's obviously not perfect.  Problems include:

       o  A third-party developer may be suprised by the need to ask
          users not to flip on "modernize-emacs", and may have to
          write code to shut it off and live with some user confusion
          when the "modernized" behavior goes away temporarily.

       o  It's effectively a project fork that at the very least
          complicates documentation and testing.

> "In your face" is a strategy where people actually get to see things
> and make a conscious decision about keeping or leaving them.

They can also make a conscious decision about dropping an unstable piece
of software.