Re: [Emacs-diffs] master db828f6: Don't rely on defaults in decoding UTF-8 encoded Lisp files

[Paul Eggert]

Richard Stallman wrote:
> The Subject line seems to refer to Lisp files, and yet here people
> are talking about changes in C as of C11.

The subject line comes from a commit to Emacs master that added coding-cookie 
lines like the following to some .el files that had UTF-8 text:

  ;; Local Variables:
  ;; coding: utf-8
  ;; End:

Lines like these are no longer needed with current Emacs, which prefers UTF-8 
for .el files regardless of the system locale.  This can be a win, as people 
often forget to insert coding cookies and the cookies are a bit awkward anyway.

The discussion has morphed into the possibility of a similar facility for files 
other than .el files, and what the defaults for such a facility should be.  The 
idea is to somehow avoid the need for UTF-8 coding cookies for users who prefer 
Emacs to default to UTF-8 for text files regardless of system locale.