Re: backup method

[Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>]

    I believe that the correct solution in this particular case is to make
    `normal-backup-enable-predicate' use a customizable list of
    directories in which no backups are made, say `no-backup-directories'.

I have no objection, but note that there is already a hook to replace
the backup predicate entirely--one could replace it with `ignore', for
instance.  (This is in addition to the possibility of editing the
code.)  There is no need for everything in Emacs to be customizable in
several different ways.

But why avoid making backups for /tmp?  Is there some specific reason
why it is bad to make backups for /tmp?  Or was the idea nothing more
than "these files are unimportant anyway"?

Sometimes a program writes a file into /tmp just for it to be
edited, and after you exit Emacs, the program will delete it.
In might be pointless to have backups for these files, but not
disastrous.  With disk space what it is, why should the default
be not to make backups for them?