Subject: RE: bug#10385: e binding in info-mode

From: "Drew Adams" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2012 07:54:16 -0800

> Karl Berry wrote:
> 
> > In info-mode, I suggest that e would be more usefully bound to
> > end-of-buffer (following the binding for b) than Info-edit ...
> > Just an idea.
> 
> Sounds good to me. Done.

That is not the way to make key-binding decisions for Emacs.

It should be proposed on emacs-devel, open for possible discussion.  And then
the Emacs maintainers should decide.

That said, I personally have no objection to our changing the binding of `e' to
`end-of-buffer'.  But, like you AFAIK, I do not decide alone.

Consider too that `Info-edit' has been bound to `e' for decades - just as long
as `b' has been bound to `beginning-of-buffer'.

Clearly that choice of bindings was not simply an oversight or accident.  Those
who decided this originally surely thought about it - `e' corresponding to `b'
is an obvious thing to consider.

And yet they decided the way they did.  Anyone can make mistakes, and minds can
change with addtional reflection and experience, but let's give the original
authors of this some credit at least. 

It should not be up to one person responding to a bug report/enhancement request
to change such a binding willy nilly because it "sounds good" to him.

Think how many key binding and other enhancement proposals are languishing in
the `wishlist' bin.  This one should get in line there with the others.  Or else
it should be brought up in emacs-devel for discussion.

The proposal to emacs-devel would be posed as related questions:

1. Should `e' be bound to `end-of-buffer' instead of `Info-edit' in Info?

2. If so, what, if anything, should `Info-edit' be bound to?

And if user-visible changes _are_ decided on then they should be mentioned in
NEWS.