RE: Key bindings proposal

[Drew Adams]

> the wikipedia page on the windows key says that [treating
> the windows key as meta] is *freqently* done.

On what basis does Wikipedia say that?
Do you believe it is true?  Why?

> For the seasoned Emacs users, something like 90% of our work is done
> inside Emacs and only around 10% in Windows.

My guess (just a guess) is that there are many, many of us Emacs users on
Windows who are *UN*seasoned according to that statement.  One at least: me.  I
use Windows applications (outside of Emacs) for most of what I do all day.  Call
me an Emacs newbie.

Like many Windows users (a guess, based on what I see), I use neither ALT for
Windows-specific features (e.g. ALT-TAB) nor the Window key for Windows-specific
features.  And that is the case regardless of whether I'm using Emacs.  (I've
used the Window key to bring up Windows Explorer - but generally only on other
people's desktops when they don't have a shortcut to it.)

I would even guess that most Windows users never use the ALT key in a
Windows-specific way (except for CONTROL-ALT-DELETE) and never use the Window
key at all.  For one thing, most are not programmers (another guess), and most
interact with Windows using the mouse most of the time, not the keyboard.  And
my guess is that _very_ few (proportionally) users of Windows use menu
accelerators.

That's a lot of guesses ("many", "most") on my part, admittedly.  What does
Wikipedia say? ;-)

Of course it is not all-important what many or most Windows users do.  Even if
only 0.00001% of them use menu accelerators or whatever, it might still be a
good idea for Emacs to support such a feature - as an _option_.

Being able to use menu accelerators or use the Window key as Meta (or as Control
or Super or Hyper or...) as an _optional_ behavior is one thing.  AFAIK, no one
has objected to that, so if that is all you are arguing about then the story
should be over and done.  Send a patch for consideration to provide such
optional behavior.

But making Emacs give up ALT as Meta by default on some particular platform
would be quite another thing.  I do not see any good reason for that.  Other
things being equal, it is good for Emacs to have the same default keys across
platforms.

And ALT as Meta in Emacs is as old as the hills and as common as their
wildflowers.  What does Wikipedia say about that?  Does it tell you that using
ALT as Meta "is *frequently* done" in Emacs?

> So, it makes sense for us to put as many resources as possible at Emacs's
> disposal rather than Windows.

Which means what?  That's just as much an argument for keeping the defaults the
way they are, ALT for Meta and letting users bind the Window key in Emacs if
they like.

> I am afraid the logic is on Lennart's side.

Do not be afraid. ;-)  But do show the logic please, if there is any.

> For better or worse, Microsoft has ended up providing us with a good
> pair of modifier keys.  Now, let us put them to good use!

ALT as Meta key is definitely put to good use by Emacs.  On all platforms.  Out
of the box.  Always has been.  You can easily move among platforms and keyboards
and change nothing about how you use the ALT key.

Well, on Windows you might need to first set a variable or two to prevent
Windows from grabbing ALT for its own use in some cases.  But other than that
using ALT in Emacs is pretty transparent across platforms.

If you want to argue that Emacs should by default grab ALT for Meta in all cases
(including for example `(w32-register-hot-key [M-tab])', then go for it: make
the argument.  Personally, I probably would not object to such a change.

The Window key, on the other hand, is not available for non-PC keyboards.  There
is no special reason to give it any default behavior in Emacs.  Leave it open,
for users to bind as they wish.