bug#9096: Don't clear the echo area automatically at every command execution

bug#9096: Don't clear the echo area automatically at every command execution

[Štěpán Němec]

emacs -Q
(message "Hello")
C-p

=> The message disappears, although C-p does not use minibuffer/echo
area in any way.

I've always found this behaviour annoying and counter-productive. It
often happens that I don't even notice a message because of this.

If someone actually likes the current behaviour, could we at least have
an option to prevent commands from clearing the echo area until
necessary?

  Štěpán

bug#9096: Don't clear the echo area automatically at every command execution

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Štěpán Němec <stepnem@gmail.com> writes:

> emacs -Q
> (message "Hello")
> C-p
>
> => The message disappears, although C-p does not use minibuffer/echo
> area in any way.
>
> I've always found this behaviour annoying and counter-productive. It
> often happens that I don't even notice a message because of this.
>
> If someone actually likes the current behaviour, could we at least have
> an option to prevent commands from clearing the echo area until
> necessary?

I think that would be very confusing -- you'd have old, outdated
messages in the echo area basically forever (i.e., until the next
message).

So I'm closing this as a "wontfix".

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

bug#9096: Don't clear the echo area automatically at every command execution

[Štěpán Němec]

On Thu, 03 Oct 2019 18:16:27 +0200
Lars Ingebrigtsen wrote:

> I think that would be very confusing -- you'd have old, outdated
> messages in the echo area basically forever (i.e., until the next
> message).

Yes, over the years I've come to the same conclusion (and have forgotten
I have reported this in the meantime, sorry...). I still see other
people make this request occasionally, but it would probably be better
addressed by other improvements to the echo message functionality, e.g.
as suggested on emacs-devel recently (easier redisplay of last/older
messages, "intelligent stacking" of messages closely following one
another etc.)

> So I'm closing this as a "wontfix".

Thanks.

-- 
Štěpán