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RE: New behavior


From: Drew Adams
Subject: RE: New behavior
Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2018 09:29:53 -0700 (PDT)

> > > "Use the source, Luke."
> >
> > The documentation should explain t and nil choice consequences as set for
> '(Value Menu).
> 
> What documentation?
> 
> The Customize UI is for users who are not necessarily Lisp
> programmers, so the Value Menu should show the human-readable
> description of what each choice will do; it doesn't have to say
> anything about the Lisp value which stands for that choice.

"Doesn't have to"? Sure. But it is generally more helpful for users
if the corresponding Lisp values are also cited in the doc string.
(And it can also be helpful to point out the correspondence,
when that might not be obvious.)

We don't want to build a wall between end users and Lisp, and
we don't want to pretend that such a wall exists. On the contrary,
we want to encourage Emacs users to learn and take advantage
of Lisp with Emacs. Emacs Lisp is the most important "feature"
that Emacs has to offer.

The kernel of truth in what you say is that we also don't want
to scare non-Lisp users by giving them the impression that they
_need_ to know or worry about the Lisp values of user options.

That users should not, and generally do not, need to know Lisp
to customize a user option is not a reason that the doc for that
option should not mention the Lisp values. It's true that there
is no obligation for the doc to mention the Lisp values, but it
generally helps users to do so - so it typically _should_.



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