Subject: bug#25665: 26.0.50; [PATCH] Indicate prefix arg in minibuffer prompt for shell-command

From: Tino Calancha <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2017 01:53:56 +0900

Chunyang Xu <[email-masked]> writes:

Thanks for the report.
> Hi,
>
> When using 'C-u M-!' ('shell-command') I feel confident if the
> minibuffer prompt becomes
>
>   Shell command and insert output:
>
> since it explains the purpose of the prefix argument. The same thing
> goes for 'M-&' ('async-shell-command') and 'M-|'
> ('shell-command-on-region').
I am not sure about this.
The meaning of the prefix argument must be explained in the docstring.
That and the manual are the source of documentation, not the prompt.

Having a short prompt is also good because there are more space
in the line for the command; a short prompt is also better while tipying
a long command: sometimes you want to change something at the beginning:
< ; `beginning-of-buffer'
Now you need to `C-f' several times to jump out of the prompt.  The more
verbose prompt, the more `C-f' you need.

Just my opinion.  Let's see what other people think.
Thanks.