Re: Reconsider make-backup-files default value

[Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>]

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  > Emacs has traditionally kept all defaults very minimal, and most
  > functionality needs to be explicitly enabled by the user. For example,
  > out of the box minibuffer and CAPF completion is quite plain.

This is not a rule, just a usual approach.  It tends to keep
the default mode of operation simple.  If a feature is a possible
convenience, people can turn it on if they want it.

  > However, make-backup-files default value is t, which I think goes
  > against this philosophy.

That is very important.  If you don't save the previous version, you
will regret it.  Being safe is a better default than being risky.

Thus, whether to enable an option by default is a matter of what it does.
Lets not make rigidity our rigid principle.

Changes in the details of making or naming backups are a different
issue.  They are not risky as disabling backups would be.
If we want to introduce a method that is not currently an option,
we should introduce it as an option.

Changing the default details of making or naming backups is
possible too, but we shouldn't consider changing to a method
until it has been in a release for a year and we can see how
much people like it.

"Hiding" backup files might cause a risk that other changed details
would not cause.  If you are not an expert on Emacs, and you don't see
a backup file when you list that directory, you may not realize that
it exists.  You might think that the old version is lost, when in fact
you have it in a backup file.

The harm done by one instance of that could easily outweigh a thousand
instances of being annoyed about "clutter".

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)