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

[Gregory Heytings <gregory@heytings.org>]

>> The current key binding conventions (see `(elisp) Key Binding 
>> Conventions') reserve keys for users, for major modes and for minor 
>> modes, but not for third-party packages [1].
>
> In my understanding those third party packages usually define major or 
> minor modes so the reservation of keys for third party packages is thus 
> already supported that way.
>

That's not correct, many packages (not all of them, but many) implement 
commands that are intended to be globally bound.  The "org-capture" 
command is an example.  A package implementing advance bookmark commands 
is another one, a packages implementing a dictionary search command is yet 
another one.

>
> There are more than one keys reserved already in the manner you 
> described such as those reserved for users can be proposed and used by 
> third party packages, including those for minor and major modes, they 
> can be used by third party packages.
>

Third-party packages cannot do that, and they do not do that.  A 
third-party package cannot bind a key C-c LETTER key, it can at best 
advise its users to do so.  It's what Org-mode does.

>
> Maybe one could make a package that changes the prefix key or various 
> packages or the package that could "see" which packages are used and 
> which of them need positioning of their prefix keys. Then such package 
> could ask user with proposal:
>
> - C-c bind prefix key for Org functions
>
> - C-, bind prefix for Magit functions
>
> Approve or change above y/n?
>

The first question is not an allowed one, C-c can only be used by users.

The second question is not a good one, C-, cannot be used in terminals.