Re: [PATCH] Support "\n" in icomplete-separator

[Gregory Heytings]

> In fact, the entire width issue is not very important: it is just a sign 
> I used to demonstrate that we have a specialized GUI widget here, 
> whereas the Emacs features that try to emulate that don't use any such 
> GUI widgets.

I fear I'll repeat myself, but I don't understand why you think that 
displaying completions vertically is trying to emulate the combo-like 
vertical list widget.  For me it's doing something similar (but not 
identical) in a different (and more efficient) way.

> No, it's the fact that we use a window that displays a buffer, and not a 
> vertical list widget.

I believe it is clear for you, but FWIW, I wouln't use such a vertical 
list widget.  The way I want to interact with Emacs in the minibuffer is 
much closer to a command shell than to a GUI app.

Perhaps it would make sense to make a poll to see what GUI widgets Emacs 
users would want to have, or whether Emacs users would want such a widget 
in this case.

> No, I mean what would happen if we displayed a menu simulation by 
> showing menu items one below the other in a buffer, instead of using the 
> toolkit menus, or even instead of the TTY menus we have nowadays.

Okay, now I see what you mean.  Indeed doing this for menus would not make 
sense / would be ugly.  But of course the essential difference here is 
that menus are not meant to be used with a keyboard, while opening a file 
or switching from a buffer to another or calling an Emacs command with the 
minibuffer is meant to be done with the keyboard.