Re: Problems with info (emacs version)

[Simon Josefsson]

Luc Teirlinck <address@hidden> writes:

> Richard Stallman wrote:
>
>        5.  Last and definitely worst.  The user copies part of the info
>          buffer into an emacs mail buffer for somebody elses information.
>          What the receiver receives is not what the sender believes he
>          sent.  Granted, the hidden text does not exactly consist of
>          obscenities or such (although I did not yet try to read these node
>          names backward to get all the Satanic messages), but this is still
>          really bad.
>
>    I am surprised you think this is such a serious issue.
>    Could you provide a test case where it causes a real problem?
>
> It all depends on what you consider a "real" problem.  If I send
> somebody mail, I like to now exactly what I sent.  Does that seem
> unreasonable?
>
> Assume that I am a newbie knowing nothing about the subtleties of the
> display property.
>
> I am asking somebody for help about how to use info and mail him a
> copy of part of my info file:
>
> * du                 Report on disk usage.
> * echo               Print a line of text.
>
> Without telling me, Emacs sends the following:
>
> * du: (fileutils)du invocation.                 Report on disk usage.
> * echo: (sh-utils)echo invocation.              Print a line of text.

I'd say this is a bug in the mail sending part of Emacs.  Message asks
the user if she knows about the hidden parts.

> I am careful, because I like to have exact records of everything I
> mailed, so I FCC to my mail archive file.  Emacs copies:
>
> * du                 Report on disk usage.
> * echo               Print a line of text.
>
> to my mail archive file.

Uhm, really?  I don't believe this is what happens, hidden text are
saved just like non-hidden text.

> Do you consider the above a "real" problem?  I do.

Me too, but I don't think the problem is with info.