Re: PROPOSAL: Repurpose one key and reserve it for third-party packages

[Gregory Heytings <gregory@heytings.org>]

>
> My reading of the guideline on "C-c LETTER" is that a major/minor mode 
> shouldn't bind C-c LETTER to a command, so that it overshadows whatever 
> is bound globally to C-c LETTER. But a system like what I propose just 
> generates to configuration *for* the user, in a user file in which case 
> the guideline doesn't apply. That's what I mean by avoiding the need for 
> an extra key-space.
>

I'm not sure your interpetation of that guideline ("Don't define 'C-c 
LETTER' as a key in Lisp programs") is correct, but now at least I see 
what you mean: you're more or less cheating the guideline by generating a 
configuration file, after asking the user if they're okay with that, 
instead of binding the key directly in the package depending on the value 
of a configuration variable.  To me what you propose looks pretty close to 
using customize to set a foobar-set-global-binding variable that would be 
used in a call to global-set-key.

And that doesn't solve the problem that 26 letter keys is a small number. 
Yes, you can also use capital letters, and yes, you can put keymaps on 
these 26 letters instead of single commands.  IMO, that can't work as a 
long-term solution; if it were, it would already be used, and the fact is 
that it isn't, and that third-party packages prefer to use, or recommend 
to use, keys that are not yet bound by Emacs.

>
> Of course, if some way could be found to reserve a prefix for 
> third-party packages,
>

Again: this, to reserve prefix key(s) for third-party packages, and only 
this, is what the proposal is about.