Re: [PATCH] Enhance the use of prefix arguments when filling text

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>]

> From: Phil Sainty <psainty@orcon.net.nz>
> Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2016 23:33:39 +1300
> 
> > So why isn't the default 'hybrid'?  It sounds like a more
> > backward-compatible setting to me.
> 
> Yes indeed, but it's also a weird setting in that different numbers
> have completely different meanings, so I was a bit loathe to make it
> the default.  It's not a very intuitive use of the 0-9 numeric prefix
> unless you already know why it works that way.
> 
> My thinking was that people who tended to use, say, M-1 M-q to
> justify text would immediately notice the change and quickly find
> their way to the new option by looking at C-h k M-q (docstrings not
> yet updated in this patch) or the NEWS file, and quickly rectify
> the situation one way or another; whereas for everyone else it seemed
> nicer to me if the default behaviour was the more consistent one.
> 
> I don't feel too strongly about it, so I'm perfectly happy to make
> the hybrid setting the default if people think it's for the best.

I don't feel strongly, either, and will probably never use this
feature anyway.  So let's see if there's someone else who thinks
'hybrid' is a better default.