Re: INFORMAL SURVEY: blinking cursor

[Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org>]

Thien-Thi Nguyen <ttn@glug.org> writes:
> * have you tried using emacs w/ the blinking box cursor?

Yes

> * do you find it uncomfortable?

No

> * do you use another shape cursor (such as vertical bar)?
>   if so, which?

I've tried the vertical bar cursor several times, and always stopped
using it shortly -- it's simply too easy to lose track of in a screen
full of text.

> * how do the shape and the blinking affect your (dis)comfort?
>   (i'm looking for correlation info, such as:
>     shape: box, blinking: on, i-find-it: unbearable
>     shape: vertical bar, blinking: on, i-find-it: no-worries
>   in the response.)

 shape: box,  blinking: on,   i-find-it: great
 shape: box,  blinking: off,  i-find-it: great
 shape: bar,  blinking: on,   i-find-it: no discomfort, but too hard to see
 shape: bar,  blinking: off,  i-find-it: no discomfort, but too hard to see

> * is cursor blinking a feature you would be inclined to
>   change during an editing session?  if so, how often?

No

> * how do the number of frames visible and the blinking affect
>   your (dis)comfort?  (again, looking for correlation info.)

I don't like fast blinking; the Emacs default blink rate is pretty
reasonable though.  [I wonder if there's some accepted standard blink
rate -- the blink rate of the Emacs and gnome-terminal cursors seems to
be almost identical.]

I think one feature of the Emacs blinking cursor that makes it much
easier on the eyes is that it stops blinking automatically while you're
typing (and your eyes are focused on it).

-Miles
-- 
`There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
 Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'