Re: Prose with markup needs more line spacing [legibility 5/6]

[Texas Cyberthal]

If a noob is using Emacs for prose, he's using Org, or at least he
should be. Those using other modes for prose are probably more
advanced. Regardless of how it defines itself, today Emacs is
primarily an IDE for programmers. So prose-friendly defaults are
specific to Org.

Emacs doesn't need to be noob-friendly everywhere, just noob-friendly
in one location, a "starter zone". Org is what attracts non-techies to
Emacs, for its personal info management features.

On Wed, Feb 5, 2020 at 7:17 AM Samuel Wales <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> i get some of your points in these emails.
>
> i'd sure like to change physical indentation in org to don't.
>
> and i think newcomers and advanced alike might want to have org sub
> superscript be off by default.  one user on this list recently
> exported a signature that contained a version number that got mangled!
>
> ===
>
> however, as an example of unintended consequences, line-spacing is a
> fundamental thing i'd be leery of changing.
>
> for one thing, it's a big problem to reduce number of lines on screen.
> many users use large fonts and are struggling to make use of the
> number of lines available even on the largest screens.
>
> i think the user would have trouble noticing that it is possible to fix.
> it might look like "part of the font".
>
> even advanced users might not know about line spacing.  faces and
> display stuff are pretty complex in emacs.  powerful, but complex.
>
> add the annoyances a user who requires large fonts has to deal with already.
>
> on top of that the question of what to do with partial lines at end of
> window -- is scrolling idempotent?  or whatefer the correct math term
> for "you do a and the opposite of a and you get what you had before"
> is.  could cuase issued before being notices.
>
> and that's before differences of opinion on aesthetics.  :)
>
> ===
>
> but scoping out to your campaign in general, i wonder why some of your
> proposals are for org.  some things might be good for text mode in
> general.  or outline mode.  or fundamental mode.  if we make them only
> for org, they might be nih-ish or inconsistent.
>
> emacs users can get curmudgeonly.  don't let that stop you.  but
> please remember to try to falsify your hypotheses.