From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Eli Zaretskii Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: Some developement questions Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2018 10:07:31 +0300 Message-ID: <837ejso6ks.fsf@gnu.org> References: <8336v6cvem.fsf@gnu.org> <87zhxcbmtr.fsf@himinbjorg.adminart.net> <83in409lub.fsf@gnu.org> <871sanb71j.fsf@himinbjorg.adminart.net> <83y3cu7t9j.fsf@gnu.org> <87lg8t2ki9.fsf@himinbjorg.adminart.net> <20180827015422.lcq44zvsjffeau4j@Ergus> <83a7p76f5e.fsf@gnu.org> <87lg8p9o6y.fsf@russet.org.uk> <83pnxx1foj.fsf@gnu.org> <87bm9d9zs9.fsf@russet.org.uk> <87efe75v02.fsf@toy.adminart.net> <87sh2lu471.fsf@toy.adminart.net> <87r2i4p2f8.fsf@toy.adminart.net> <87h8ix7gy3.fsf@toy.adminart.net> <835zzdpltc.fsf@gnu.org> <87pnxl16dl.fsf@toy.adminart.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: blaine.gmane.org X-Trace: blaine.gmane.org 1536650265 26126 195.159.176.226 (11 Sep 2018 07:17:45 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@blaine.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2018 07:17:45 +0000 (UTC) Cc: spacibba@aol.com, phillip.lord@russet.org.uk, rms@gnu.org, emacs-devel@gnu.org To: hw Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Tue Sep 11 09:17:40 2018 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by blaine.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1fzcvc-0006i5-L1 for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Tue, 11 Sep 2018 09:17:40 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:55877 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1fzcxj-00049r-6L for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Tue, 11 Sep 2018 03:19:51 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([208.118.235.92]:60203) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1fzcwr-0003Yk-NJ for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 11 Sep 2018 03:19:00 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1fzclo-00035V-Hz for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 11 Sep 2018 03:07:33 -0400 Original-Received: from fencepost.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::e]:33365) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1fzclk-00034a-W0; Tue, 11 Sep 2018 03:07:29 -0400 Original-Received: from [176.228.60.248] (port=3241 helo=home-c4e4a596f7) by fencepost.gnu.org with esmtpsa (TLS1.2:RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:256) (Exim 4.82) (envelope-from ) id 1fzcle-0004NB-Kn; Tue, 11 Sep 2018 03:07:22 -0400 In-reply-to: <87pnxl16dl.fsf@toy.adminart.net> (message from hw on Mon, 10 Sep 2018 21:48:06 +0200) X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.2.x-3.x [generic] X-Received-From: 2001:4830:134:3::e X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.21 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: "Emacs-devel" Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:229664 Archived-At: > From: hw > Cc: spacibba@aol.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org, rms@gnu.org, phillip.lord@russet.org.uk > Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2018 21:48:06 +0200 > > > The Alt key does work, you probably have your keyboard misconfigured. > > I found out less than a week ago that it now finally works. It did not > work for the first 25 years or so, beginning on an Atari ST. > > Technically, it may have started working earlier and I didn't know > because hadn't tried it for a long time because it hasn't been working > for decades. It worked for me for the last 30 years. > >> Eli pointed out that window managers like to use the Alt key for > >> themselves so that it never arrives at Emacs. > > > > Not Alt itself, some combinations that begin with Alt. Like Alt-TAB, > > for example. There are very few such combinations, and Emacs avoids > > binding important functions to them. So I think explaining that in > > the tutorial would not be TRT, as the issue is quite obscure. > > I don't know, isn't that hard to say? If a WM (or something else) were > to use Alt+v for something, it might not work, or work intermittently, > in Emacs. We don't need to solve hypothetical problems, only those that happen in practice. In practice, only a small number of ALT combinations are usurped by window managers, and they tend to be the same combinations in all WMs, for good practical reasons. We shouldn't expect that set to grow or to usurp frequently used combinations, because that would cause user outcry.