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* *scratch* buffer (was: A wish, a plea)
@ 2007-06-22 10:48 David Reitter
  2007-06-22 11:57 ` Jason Rumney
                   ` (2 more replies)
  0 siblings, 3 replies; 11+ messages in thread
From: David Reitter @ 2007-06-22 10:48 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: emacs- devel

Here's what we do in Aquamacs. Perhaps this applies to all of Emacs:

`initial-major-mode' and `default-major-mode' default to `text-mode'.
We assume that most people want to write one or another form of text  
or code in some language other than elisp. Text-mode provides basic  
support for that. We are pretty sure that the majority of users  
doesn't know much elisp, and of those who know it, only a minority  
will use Emacs predominantly to configure or extend Emacs.

The initial message in the *scratch* buffer is not shown. We want its  
function to be self-evident. Users are not required to read text  
before they get going (most people, even newbies, presumably don't  
read it anyways).

I am also intending to make the *scratch* buffer persistent across  
sessions.
That way, users will not be bothered to give it a name and to  
explicitly save it. But they will retain its contents across crashes  
and intentional restarts. If the desktop is a good analogy: when I  
come into my office in the morning, all my scratch papers are still  
on my desk. Even in companies that operate a "clean desk policy", the  
cleaners are not instructed to throw away everything that's on  
people's desks at 7am. (Or do they?)

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 11+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2007-07-02 16:16 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 11+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2007-06-22 10:48 *scratch* buffer (was: A wish, a plea) David Reitter
2007-06-22 11:57 ` Jason Rumney
2007-06-22 14:17   ` David Reitter
2007-06-22 14:58     ` Juanma Barranquero
2007-06-28  1:07     ` Davis Herring
2007-06-28  9:58       ` David House
2007-06-28 15:04         ` Davis Herring
2007-06-22 21:53 ` Richard Stallman
2007-06-28  1:06 ` Davis Herring
2007-06-29 16:42   ` *scratch* buffer Juri Linkov
2007-07-02 16:16     ` Davis Herring

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