Subject: Re: bug#1305: All code that currently beeps should use visual bell instead

From: Michael Welsh Duggan <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2021 17:09:40 -0400

Gregory Heytings <[email-masked]> writes:

>>>> So in this instance, defaulting `visible-bell' to "on" would make
>>>> `C-g' more intrusive/obnoxious than previously...  which is the
>>>> opposite effect than what was originally discussed in this bug
>>>> report.
>>>
>>> Can anything be done about that, though?
>>
>> I think this might point toward not doing anything about the default
>> -- people who don't like beeps will switch them off on the OS level.
>> That is, flipping the default will make `C-g' more intrusive for
>> people who've already made a decision to ignore beeps.
>>
>
> Note that for GNU/Linux users who use a more exotic window manager
> instead of Gnome or KDE, it's the opposite: they have to make an
> active decision to hear beeps.  IOW, they will not hear any beep
> unless they configure their computer to do so.
>
> I checked on macOS, and the only apps (at least, the only apps among
> the ones I use) that repeatedly beep are the terminal and Emacs.
> Other apps only beep when you do something "wrong", that is, when they
> cannot do what you want (for example when you ask the program to paste
> something when there is nothing to paste), or when they open an
> important dialog.  The terminal also beeps when it cannot do what you
> want (for example when you press TAB and it cannot complete the
> current input).  In comparison, Emacs beeps a lot.

Really?  I find that, in general, Emacs only beeps when it cannot do
what I want (for example, C-n at EOB) or I cancel an operation (C-g or
ESC ESC ESC).  Under what other circumstances are you encountering
beeping?

-- 
Michael Welsh Duggan
([email-masked])