Re: Entering filenames with spaces

[David Reitter <david.reitter@gmail.com>]

On 5 Nov 2005, at 16:34, Drew Adams wrote:

>     On 19 Oct 2005, at 03:43, Richard M. Stallman wrote:
>>
>>     Does a filename-minibuffer have an extra keymap?
>>
>> Not at present, but giving it its own keymap is the cleanest
>> way to do this job.
>
>     OK, this is a simple patch now which allows for inputting  
> spaces in
>     filenames in the minibuffer, while keeping the binding of space to
>     minibuffer-complete-word in other contexts. It introduces a new
>     keymap, minibuffer-local-filename-completion-map.
>
> Was this a final decision? If not, let me stir the pot a bit one  
> more time.
...
>  I'm not happy, however, with a change that imposes a new
> minibuffer-completion map on programmers and two distinct minibuffer
> behaviors for SPC on users.  Could this decision please be  
> reconsidered?

My main argument back then was to allow people to enter filenames  
with spaces, not consistency. Other keys have special meanings in the  
minibuffer, like up/down.

I fully agree with you that one should maintain consistent across all  
minibuffer inputs.
That was the first patch that I submitted, and some people didn't  
seem too happy...

A similar issue is the (seemingly fully unnecessary) binding of C-y  
in isearch, where yank needs to be re-bound to M-y. This is a good  
example of inconsistency without need. Streamlining the UI before the  
release might be a good idea. Otherwise one will end up with a  
situation where some people like to keep illogical UI behavior just  
because they've gotten used to it. The space bar in the minibuffer  
and C-y in isearch already seem to be such cases.