GNU bug report logs - #38696
"If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up"

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From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: arthur miller <arthur.miller <at> live.com>, 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org>, Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 38696 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#38696: "If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up"
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2019 09:49:51 -0800 (PST)

>> The user is no longer in full control, but must
>> maintain it via an interface (the menus.)
>
> Actually it says "you should be careful". It does
> not says you should never edit it. I don't think
> you have reason to edit it by hand, especially if
> you redirect customize saves to different file
> then your init, but you certainly can if you wish
> (and know what you are doing).

The most important message about this, for users,
is to let them know that this code is inserted
and _updated (overwritten) automatically_.

That's the _reason_ we warn users not to edit it.

It's not so much because their edits might mess
something up.  It's that they need to be aware
that editing it competes with automatic updating.
If you edit it then you are fighting against
Customize.

If you edit it, and if you never use Customize
(and no code you use ever uses Customize code),
then, yes, the only potential problem is that you
can mess things up for your future Emacs sessions.

But that's not the likeliest scenario.  The real,
more likely problem is that you make a change to
this code and later Customize overwrites your
change - and you might not be aware of that.

IMO, that's what this inserted comment is really
about: letting you know that the code is updated
automatically, and manual and automatic updating
don't mix well - each can overwrite the other.

 


-------- Originalmeddelande --------
Från: 積丹尼 Dan Jacobson <jidanni <at> jidanni.org> 
Datum: 2019-12-22 01:37 (GMT+01:00) 
Till: Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org> 
Kopia: 38696 <at> debbugs.gnu.org 
Ämne: bug#38696: "If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up" 

>>>>> "RMS" == Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org> writes:

RMS> Would you please show us what this looks like?

$ cat .emacs
(custom-set-variables
 ;; custom-set-variables was added by Custom.
 ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful.
 ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance.
 ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right.
 )
(custom-set-faces
 ;; custom-set-faces was added by Custom.
 ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful.
 ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance.
 ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right.
 '(default ((t (:family "DejaVu Sans Mono" :foundry "PfEd" :slant normal :weight normal :height 218 :width normal)))))

There is no way offered to "decompile" this into something that all
those Emacs manuals talk about when introducing how to edit your .emacs
file.

The user is no longer in full control, but must maintain it via an
interface (the menus.)

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