Re: delete-selection-mode

[David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org>]

Juri Linkov <juri@jurta.org> writes:

>>>> I use C-M-SPC *very* often, typically just before C-y (together with
>>>> a variant of delete-selection-mode).
>>>
>>> BTW, since now shift-selection is available by default, I think we should
>>> enable delete-selection-mode, because otherwise it is very confusing
>>> for users coming from other programs to discover the weird behavior
>>> of transient-mark-mode when delete-selection-mode is disabled.
>>
>> No.  I am already getting surprise region activations with the current
>> settings.  Getting it erased by surprise is not what I consider fun.
>
> I already know that you don't like transient-mark-mode.  So the only
> option for you is to disable transient-mark-mode completely.

Sorry, but that does not fly.  We are talking about the default settings
of Emacs here.  Enabling transient-mark-mode by default gives us an
active region for all mark-* commands as well as C-x C-x.  So an active
region has become a much more common occurence in the normal workflow
than previously.  Making this region inactive requires C-g (a command
that has no equivalent whatsoever in CUA that would also work in Emacs).
So after a region became active, it is, for the average user, almost
impossible to avoid deleting it if we have delete-selection-mode active.

This is not good enough.  If a normal workflow more or less necessitates
shooting yourself in the foot, even if this workflow is somewhat similar
to "CUA" or "everybody else", then the solution is not to punch people
in the mouth who don't use CUA or accustomed to it.

The solution is to create a useful and consistent workflow that does
minimal unintended damage.  And CUA/transient-mark-mode is not there yet
where delete-selection-mode would fit in.

> What I meant is that when the region is active in transient-mark-mode
> typing a character that doesn't delete the region is not only useless
> but also looks like a bug to users of any program other than Emacs.

Not having a useful way to type a character that doesn't delete the
region (when activating the region is something which happens
unintentionally for some workloads and can't be undone without, say,
beeping and/or flashing all over the workplace, the normal reaction to
C-g) is a bug in user interface design.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum