Re: Patch to disable links line in *info* buffer

[Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org>]

"Robert J. Chassell" <bob@rattlesnake.com> writes:
> Evidentally, the new-styule `header lines' are constructed to be like
> mode lines, which cannot be copied and never have been able to be
> copied.  (And I have never missed be unable to copy them.)  However,
> since I often tell people to RTFM, I do copy the headers for Info
> nodes.

I think the Consensus on this mailing list seems to be that the
old-new-style -- node-names in header-line only, not copyable -- is
better.

Some people (at least you [Bob], but I think I've seen one or two more
comments about the issue on a mailing list somewhere) would like to copy
them, and end up frustrated by this style, but most people don't seem to
care about copying.  I suspect that the `don't care' position is also the
one that most unsophisticated users will occupy, and that you are an
unusual case since you spend more of your time helping others than is
typical.

So I'd say the `duplicated header-line' should be reverted.

That leaves the question of what people like who _do_ want easy
copyability should do.

Some suggestions:

 1) Just tell them `set Info-use-header-line to nil'

 2) Keep reminding them of the `Info-copy-current-node-name' function
    (bound to `c' in info-mode, and also in the Info menu)

 3) Perhaps add a more intuitive binding for Info-copy-current-node-name.
    For instance, how about a mouse-3 menu in the header-line that
    includes only a few commands, including that one?  Since mouse-3 for
    context-sensitive menus is fairly standard, this might be easy to
    remember.

What do you think Bob?

-Miles
-- 
"I distrust a research person who is always obviously busy on a task."
   --Robert Frosch, VP, GM Research