Re: emacs mode line suggestions

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>]

> From: Xah <xahlee@gmail.com>
> Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:54:02 -0800 (PST)
> 
> On Nov 15, 1:23 am, Eli Zaretskii <e...@gnu.org> wrote:
> > > From:Xah<xah...@gmail.com>
> > > Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:18:31 -0800 (PST)
> >
> > > • that the buffer location percentage should by default not shown if
> > > emacs is running in GUI with scroll bar.
> >
> > This is already the default on _all_ types of displays, and has been
> > so since day one, even when Emacs didn't support scroll bars.
> 
> umm? on my carbon emacs (based on emacs 22.x), it still show cursor
> location percentage.
> 
> In my x11 emacs running in gui (emacs 21.x) with scroll bar, it also
> shows this percentage.

Please explain how you deduce that the cursor percentage is shown.
Here's what I see (on MS-Windows, but that's the only GUI Emacs I can
access where I type this): as long as the first and last line shown by
the window don't move, I see the same percentage, no matter how I move
the cursor; but when I scroll the window with "C-u 1 C-v" (which
scrolls by one line without moving buffer position), the percentage
starts changing, even though cursor is on the same place in the
buffer.

The same happens on a Unix text-only terminal.

> > > • clicking on the file name should not switch buffer.
> >
> > That's not the file name, that's the buffer name.
> 
> please get the over all picture, not bone picking.

A veteran Emacs user who thinks he knows enough to suggest radical
changes for Emacs look and feel can be expected to use the correct
terminology.

> > As for what it should do, I don't see why your preference is better
> > than the current one.  Popping a menu requires another click to
> > actually select a buffer, whereas the current behavior does it in one
> > click.
> 
> typically, a user has several user buffers open, and as far as i guess
> many programers who use emacs extensively has like hundreds of buffers
> open. Cycling them one by one is not much useful.

No one in their right mind will cycle buffers.  This feature exists if
your buffer is one or two away.  Anything more than that, you should
use the menu-bar's Buffers menu (or select the buffer by its name with
C-x b).

> i don't necessarily disagree with every point you make. But please
> consider the over all suggestion, as opposed to seeming to have a nay-
> say attitude and turn down the whole thing.

The fact that we disagree doesn't say more about my attitude than it
says about yours.

> For one reason, it by default selectively display only some of the
> minor modes currently on

Perhaps because some minor modes decided not to announce themselves.
For example, in the buffer where I type this I have "Fly Abbrev Fill"
as the list of minor modes that I have turned on.

> > > • Clicking on the major mode name should pop up a contextual menu to
> > > let user switch to major major modes.
> >
> > Switching a major mode is a very rare command, so having this at your
> > fingertips makes no sense, IMO.
> 
> switching between modes is not rarely used. I'd estimate it is used
> every other hour at least.

Please provide some use-cases to back this up.  FWIW, I almost never
switch the major mode in the same buffer, unless Emacs didn't switch
into the right one to begin with, and even then I only do that once in
a given buffer.