From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Richard Stallman Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: [Emacs-diffs] /srv/bzr/emacs/trunk r99650: Put scroll-bar on right by default on UNIX. Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:02:51 -0500 Message-ID: References: <87ocitw2dl.fsf@stupidchicken.com> Reply-To: rms@gnu.org NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-15 X-Trace: dough.gmane.org 1268532184 23309 80.91.229.12 (14 Mar 2010 02:03:04 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@dough.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:03:04 +0000 (UTC) Cc: cloos@jhcloos.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org To: Chong Yidong Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sun Mar 14 03:03:00 2010 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1NqdAS-00073y-5h for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:03:00 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:36564 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1NqdAR-0006Ev-4x for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:02:59 -0500 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1NqdAL-0006EB-Ua for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:02:53 -0500 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=36685 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1NqdAL-0006Dr-In for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:02:53 -0500 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by monty-python.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1NqdAK-0004rt-1B for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:02:53 -0500 Original-Received: from fencepost.gnu.org ([140.186.70.10]:54600) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1NqdAJ-0004ro-Qb for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:02:51 -0500 Original-Received: from rms by fencepost.gnu.org with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1NqdAJ-00012t-58; Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:02:51 -0500 In-reply-to: <87ocitw2dl.fsf@stupidchicken.com> (message from Chong Yidong on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:23:34 -0500) X-detected-operating-system: by monty-python.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 3) X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:121926 Archived-At: I'm familiar with the advantages, but this battle was fought long ago. Every graphical user interface created in the last X years puts the scroll bar on the right. Try naming one other application on a modern GNU/Linux desktop that does the opposite by default---they don't exist. How are they relevant to this decision? There are some interface details for which incompatibility is a real pain in the neck. But this is not one of them; it isn't harder to use a scroll bar on the left just because in other apps it's on the right. It may be a bit of a surprise to see it on the left, but that doesn't impede use. Beyond a certain point, conflicting with users' expectations does more harm than good. But, you can do (set-scroll-bar-mode 'left) or Options -> Show/Hide -> Scroll Bar -> On the Left. Why choose anything other than the most convenient setting as the default?