Subject: Re: bug#11666: default-directory

From: Dave Abrahams <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2012 12:54:23 -0700

on Wed Sep 05 2012, Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi-AT-gnus.org> wrote:

> Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <[email-masked]> writes:
>
>> That's probably not very nice.  But would binding `default-directory' to
>> "/" (or something) for the Gnus process buffers be the right thing?
>> Would that work?
>>
>> I have a feeling that this might be one of those "don't do that, then"
>> things.
>
> And I think that's the case.  The expected thing for Emacs things is
> that you get the current default directory when you start stuff.  Like
> if you say `M-x shell'.  It would be odd if Gnus did something else
> here.
>
> So I'm closing this bug report.

Well, that's your perogative of course.  From my personal experience,
the pain caused by Gnus inadvertently started in a TRAMP directory (and
I think it can get switched somehow to using a TRAMP directory even if
it isn't started there) is massive, easy to achieve, and very hard to
understand, while customizing `gnus-default-directory' to "~" is
painless.  I have never wished for my mail/news reader to hold onto some
other directory as its default, and since I've made the customization,
the problem hasn't returned.  While this can't be called a bug, I think
it would be a service to your users if you'd protect them from this
problem by changing the default for `gnus-default-directory', even if it
causes some small apparent inconsistency with the way the rest of Emacs
works.  BTW, if you get yourself in this situation, IIRC, you can't even
quit Gnus.

Anyway, more than 'nuff said.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
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