bug#15902: 24.3.50; Auto-save file not deleted when quitting Emacs (and saying "don't save")

[Stefan Kangas]

tags 15902 + wontfix
close 15902
quit

Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

>> For example, when I open some files after 3 weeks, how will I know that, for
>> some of them, I explicitly disregarded the changes when leaving Emacs (and
>> should ignore the message), while, for others, I did not intend to loose the
>> modifications, and I would need to recover them?
>
> Of course, it's a tradeoff.  We could let the user choose between "exit
> with auto-save" and "exit without auto-save".  But along with "save
> & exit" that would make it a 3-way answer, so it would make it
> more complex than the simple yes/or question we have now.
>
> Note also that if you don't know whether it's worth recovering, you can
> just try it out, then look at the resulting unsaved changes (via
> diff-buffer-with-file).
>
> This design is based on the assumption that the usually will usually know if
> recovery is useful.  If that's the case, then Emacs's behavior is very
> convenient, providing safe defaults without getting in the way.  But if
> that's not the case, then indeed it's not perfect, but I think it's
> still fairly good.
>
> Another options it to use M-~ before exiting when you know that you
> don't want to keep the changes: that should get you rid of both the
> prompt and the auto-save file.

I think what Stefan says is reasonable, and since we don't want to
change the current behaviour, I'm closing this as wontfix.

If anyone disagrees with that, please re-open this bug report.

Thanks,
Stefan Kangas