bug#39902: 28.0.50; Marking in dired with active region

[Juri Linkov]

>> The most obvious way for users to mark e.g. next 2 files
>> is to type S-down 2 times, then type 'm', especially
>> convenient when arrow keys are located near the 'm' key.
>
> I don't have a problem with users doing that.  What's the
> problem with that?  What habit would be broken?

The habit of typing S-down twice to mark two files, not three.

> What we're talking about, I thought, is that, IF you use
> `m' (or other mark-changing keys) AFTER you do that (or
> after something else that selects parts of contiguous
> file lines as the active region), THEN that marking
> command acts on each file that has ANY part of its line
> selected.  That's what the behavior should be, IMO.

1.
> That second image, where point is not at bol, _should_
> result in the 3rd file being marked, IMO - and it does.

2.
> For me, it's about whether ANY (non-empty, hence the
> bolp fix) part of a file's line is selected.

Aren't the above two sentences contradicting?
Because on the second image there is only empty space
before the file name, so according to your second sentence,
the 3rd file should NOT be marked.

> (An action, such as renaming, might affect only the
> file-name portion as its _result_.  But it takes
> effect on the file designated by that line.  And other
> actions (e.g. chmod, touch) can affect other parts of
> the line (e.g. permissions, date).
>
> We've been around and around about the question now.
> I think those who have spoken up in this thread,
> including OP Michael - with you as the exception, feel
> the same way: Act on each file when any non-empty part
> of its line is in the active region.

Why non-empty part of the line?  It's more logical about
the non-empty part of the file name, because dired
commands don't act on lines, but on files.