Subject: Re: bug#21695: 25.0.50; Change most occurrences of `setq' in Emacs manual to `customize-set-variable'? Really?

From: Richard Stallman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2021 23:06:58 -0400

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There are a few customization options that are not really variables
and need to be set with `customize-set-variable'.

However, the rest of them are variables and normally set with `setq'
and friends.

Telling users to set them all with `customize-set-variable' will be a
significant hassle.  What's more, users will disregard this instruction.
`setq' is easy to remember and we all know it.

Having a recommendation in the manual which users will generally
reject is in itself a problem.

I think we should address this some other way.  Here are some ideas.

* indicate the few customization options
   which are not really variables.
* tell people how to check whether
   a customization options is really a variable.
* warn about setq for a customization option that isn't really a variable.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)