Subject: Re: bug#38013: [PATCH] Rectangular region selection with mouse

From: Mattias Engdegård <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2019 19:27:33 +0100

7 nov. 2019 kl. 18.53 skrev Drew Adams <[email-masked]>:

>  My latest question was why we would add all of that
>  stuff - options for choosing modifiers etc.  _Users
>  have control_ over key bindings now.  Just what's
>  the point of adding this other stuff?

That the least important part of the patch --- it was mainly to make it easier to change the bindings in a consistent way, since there are multiple bindings that go together.

>  And what exactly does that have to do with selecting
>  a rectangular region with the mouse?  Why should that
>  be mixed in with providing the possibility of using
>  a mouse to select a rectangular region?

The Meta modifier was already used by the secondary selection. Shift or control could have been used as well; I just picked the one that appeared to be used the least. It's not worth arguing about either, particular not at this stage; let's get the basics right first.

>  And why provide any binding, by default, for doing
>  that?  The feature hasn't even been introduced to
>  users yet.  Why would we sacrifice a default binding
>  for it at this time?

I'm not sure what you mean. Of course rectangular selection needs a binding. We just have to select one that is less bad than the alternatives.