From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Chong Yidong Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: draft for DEL key poll Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:52:20 -0400 Message-ID: <87r532n6wr.fsf@stupidchicken.com> References: <87litcvtu2.fsf@stupidchicken.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Trace: dough.gmane.org 1317084752 20386 80.91.229.12 (27 Sep 2011 00:52:32 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:52:32 +0000 (UTC) Cc: emacs-devel@gnu.org To: rms@gnu.org Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Tue Sep 27 02:52:28 2011 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([140.186.70.17]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1R8LuO-0003R7-QK for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:52:28 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:36624 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1R8LuO-0002b8-0K for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:52:28 -0400 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([140.186.70.92]:40037) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1R8LuL-0002an-B5 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:52:26 -0400 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1R8LuK-0006Iu-GC for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:52:25 -0400 Original-Received: from vm-emlprdomr-04.its.yale.edu ([130.132.50.145]:39981) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1R8LuJ-0006IX-0A; Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:52:23 -0400 Original-Received: from furball ([128.36.14.81]) (authenticated bits=0) by vm-emlprdomr-04.its.yale.edu (8.14.4/8.14.4) with ESMTP id p8R0qLQU018532 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA bits=128 verify=NOT); Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:52:22 -0400 In-Reply-To: (Richard Stallman's message of "Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:12:34 -0400") User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/24.0.90 (gnu/linux) X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.71 on 130.132.50.145 X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 3) X-Received-From: 130.132.50.145 X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 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-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:144374 Archived-At: Richard Stallman writes: > In Emacs 24, now in pretest, a change is being considered for DEL > (often the Backspace key) and the Delete function key. When there is > an active region, they would delete the region instead of just one > character. This is enabled by default in the current pretest, so > building and using the pretest is a way to test it. This description fails to explain the underlying logic behind the change. If an active region is made with the mouse, and with shift-selection, the DEL key deletes it. This behavior is non-negotiable as a default, as it is the standard behavior of graphical applications on modern GUI platforms and there is no good reason for Emacs to violate it. Some Emacs commands perform a certain operation on the region when it is active. In general, this "act on region" behavior does not draw a distinction between a region made with the mouse (or shift-selection) and a region made "normally" (e.g. by C-SPC followed by point motion). In previous Emacs releases, a special exception was made for the DEL and delete keys. This exception has now been dropped. Anyone who argues that DEL ought not to delete a "normal" active region should provide a convincing explanation of why DEL should be treated differently from other Emacs commands that act on active regions.