Stefan Monnier wrote on 23 Nov 2013:
>> (add-hook 'deactivate-mark-hook (lambda () (setq cursor-type t)))
>> (add-hook 'activate-mark-hook (lambda () (setq cursor-type 'bar)))
>
> I like the idea, but this collides with other uses of cursor-type.
> Could someone cook up a patch which only does the above if cursor-type
> has not been modified (and which lets users opt-out if they prefer).
> Also, the patch should directly modify deactivate-mark and activate-mark
> rather than using the hooks.

Ok. Patch attached below.

With dynamic-cursor-mode turned off, it won't interfere with other uses of cursor-type.

And if you enable/disable dynamic-cursor-mode buffer-locally, it won't interfere with other uses of cursor-type in other buffers. In fact I have a couple of minor modes in my own packages that rely on this separation.