Re: Transient Mark Mode on by default

[Sebastian Rose]

Alan Mackenzie <address@hidden> writes:
> To see this confusion, just peruse this sentence from the page "Transient
> Mark" in the Emacs Manual:
>
>        If the variable `mark-even-if-inactive' is non-`nil' in Transient
>     Mark mode, then commands can use the mark and the region even when it
>     is inactive.

...and the rest of the truth is the documentation for `mark':

       mark
         Function: Return this buffer's mark value as integer, or nil if never 
set.

       In Transient Mark mode, this function signals an error if
       the mark is not active.  However, if `mark-even-if-inactive' is non-nil,
       or the argument FORCE is non-nil, it disregards whether the mark
       is active, and returns an integer or nil in the usual way.

       If you are using this in an editing command, you are most likely making
       a mistake; see the documentation of `set-mark'.

Here is, where the former words get their sence.



> In truth, T-M-M is a ragbag of features arbitrarily conflated into a
> single option: There's (i) region highlighting; (ii) a variant of
> narrowing, for certain commands; (iii) disabling the mark.  Anything else
> I've missed?


Maybe using transient-mark-mode and have some commands narrowing to the
region ;) This is something I use all the time. Having replace-string
replacing from point to end of buffer is useless in many cases. And if I
wont to do that, I just don't create a region. Here TMM adds an editing
feature to emacs, IMHO.



> Yet to get this wider audience, what this wider audience is getting is
> getting less and less like Emacs.


They're getting TMM since I use emacs. And since then I have to turn TMM
on, if I want to use it. This was never a propblem.


> As somebody who prizes simplicity, clarity and logical cohesion, making
> this psuedo-T-M-M default fills me with revulsion.  There's got to be
> better ways of attracting new users.


I don't care about defaults at all as long they don't change all the
time. But I think TMM is somewhat underestimated here.

Visualization is what attracs users today. Make the application think
for me makes it a usefull tool. There are about 7 registers in short
time memory in an avarage brain. I rember the point and the mark even
after a 2 hours phone call if the region is highlighted. And *ploink*
remember why.

right-click to create a highlighted region, and by more right clicks on
any end of that region resize it (this could not be done without
highlighting). Or cut the region by double-right-click (and inserting by
middle-click as usual). Very convinient in some cases.




Regards,

    Sebastian