Re: Representation of the Emacs userbase on emacs-devel

[Dmitry Gutov]

Hi Richard,

On 05.09.2021 06:39, Richard Stallman wrote:
> If we want to find out what aspects of a change Emacs users would like
> or dislike, we should ask more of them.  We had a discussion last year
> about how to do such an investigation, based on how we used to do it,
> with improvements.
>
> Would someone like to write draft inquiry questions for the question
> at hand?

Are we talking about the indent-tabs-mode issue? I proposed a version in 
an email from 19.05.2020, you responded with a rewritten draft, and then 
nothing happened.

Here's an updated proposal (added a paragraph before the last one):


We Emacs developers are currently considering a change in the
default value of indent-tabs-mode.  The change would be to
make it nil, rather than t as it has been.

To respond, please send an email to emacs-tabs-inquiry@gnu.org with
your thoughts on the matter.

We do not seek mere "votes", but rather understanding.  If you are for
the change, please explain why.  Would it help you directly?  If so,
in what scenarios?  How often, and how strongly, would it benefit you?
What would the benefit be?

Or is it that you think it will improve Emacs, or speed Emacs
development, by helping other users?  How so?

Please distinguish between what you know and what you predict.

Likewise, if you are against the change, please explain why.
Would it inconvenience you directly?  If so, in what scenarios?
How often, and how strongly, would it inconvenience you?  What
would the inconvenience be?

Or is it that you think it will harm Emacs or Emacs development by
inconveniencing others?  How so?

We invite you also to propose other alternatives to consider, likewise
saying in what scenario that would be an improvement, and how so, etc.

If you have set the variable indent-tabs-mode in your .emacs file,
please say what value you set it to, and how many years ago (roughly).

If you didn't change this variable's value, but had to customize the 
variable tab-width, tell us as well.

Please post the URL of this page in forums where it is appropriate,
and resend it to Emacs users and mailing lists where you know people
will be glad to receive it.