Re: [RFC] Option to kill `emacs --daemon' when closing the last client frame

[Gregor Zattler]

Hi Eli, emacs developers,
* Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> [2021-10-23; 09:23]:
>> From: Gregor Zattler <telegraph@gmx.net>
>> Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2021 21:51:17 +0200
>> * Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> [2021-10-21; 10:34]:
>> > We could add a new command to the server-client protocol, and make
>> > emacsclient send this command when invoked with the (hypothetical) new
>> > command-line option.
>>
>> But what happens then if there are two emacsclients
>> connecting to the daemon, one with this hypothetical command
>> line option, the other one without and the one without is
>> the last client which closes it's connection with the
>> daemon?
>
> The new protocol command will have been sent by the first emacsclient,
> when it starts the server, so which client closes the last is
> immaterial, because the decision when to exit will be by the server
> based on that new server command it received in the beginning.

Why is the order of events a given?  If the protocol command is
sent by emnacsclient because of a command line option, it's
up to the user if and in which order s/he chooses to start
emacsclients with/out this command -line option!?


>> >> Another method might be to add an option like
>> >> `daemon-kill-when-no-clients' that defaults to nil. Then after an
>> >> `emacsclient' is killed, we can consult that variable, and if it's true,
>> >> kill the daemon if there are no remaining clients.
>> >
>> > That'd require users to modify their init files, which I think is
>> > slightly less desirable than the alternative with a new protocol
>> > command.
>>
>> Only if they want to use that new behaviour.  Emacs users in
>> most cases need to do that in order to use newly changed UI
>> features.
>
> Yes, but the same is true for the new emacsclient command-line option,
> except that changing that is easier done as one-time-only thing than
> editing the init files.

I for instance rarely call emacsclient by name from the
command-line, but only for debugging reasons.  In normal
live I call it via shell scripts.  These I would have to
adapt, if I would want to make use of the new command-line
option.  I don't see a difference to the case of
`daemon-kill-when-no-clients' defaulting to nil.  At least
this has to be set at only one place and could be done with
the customization interface.

Ciao; Gregor
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