Re: delete-selection-mode as default

[Alan Mackenzie]

Hello, Drew.

On Wed, Sep 12, 2018 at 06:41:43 -0700, Drew Adams wrote:

[ .... ]

> > One of the uses of C-x C-x is to check what is currently in the
> > region.  Typically, you'd type it twice, to get back to your
> > starting point.

> More exactly, one of the uses of C-x C-x _highlighting_ is that.

No, I meant what I wrote.  Even without the highlighting, the first C-x
C-x takes point to the other end of the region.  You thus see where it
is.

> You want a visual indication of the limits of the region, ....

This is exactly what I don't want.  This visual indication would get in
my way.

> .... and perhaps of all of its contents. The other thing that C-x C-x
> does is activate the region, and in your case you do not need/want
> that.

Yes.

> > There are many advantages to having transient-mark-mode disabled:
> > primarily simplicity, and the severe reduction in the modal
> > behaviour (in the sense of key sequences doing different things in
> > things like vi's insert mode and command mode).  And I'm not happy
> > having my font-locking splatted by the region's highlighting.

> Being able to apply some actions to the region (or being unable to do
> so) is just a thing. It can be limiting, as you suggest. But it can
> also be handy - depending on the user and what s?he wants to do.

Yes.  I was countering hw's assertion that running with
transient-mark-mode disabled was not sensible.

[ .... ]

> > But everybody's different here, with different preferences, likes,
> > hates.  It's a mistake (which I've made quite a few times) to assume
> > that "obvious" options in Emacs actually are obvious.

> 100% agreement on that. And the preferences of the same user can even
> change over time and as new possibilities arise.

Even that, yes.

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).