GNU bug report logs - #50950
"(emacs) Mark" should contrast to "selecting" text in other editors

Previous Next

Full log

Message #34 received at 50950 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
Cc: 50950 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, stefan <at> marxist.se
Subject: Re: [External] : bug#50950: "(emacs) Mark" should contrast to
 "selecting" text in other editors
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2021 21:55:33 +0300

> From: Drew Adams <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
> CC: "stefan <at> marxist.se" <stefan <at> marxist.se>,
>         "50950 <at> debbugs.gnu.org"
> 	<50950 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
> Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2021 18:33:45 +0000
> 
> > > Point is just the current cursor position.  You
> > > move the cursor, not point.
> > 
> > Not in Emacs.  In Emacs, commands move point, and the cursor is then
> > drawn to show where point is.
> 
> Yes, in Emacs.  In Emacs, users move the cursor,
> which means that point changes.  You don't see
> point; you see the cursor.  Point is a position:
> the position of the cursor.
> 
> We're talking to users, and we should use a user
> point of view.

User's point of view will not be served if we distort the reality
while presenting it to the user.  The notion of point and its movement
is central to understanding Emacs, and realizing that changes like
point motion come first, while display of the cursor comes later, is
important to being able to extend Emacs and write Emacs Lisp programs.

Previous Next

GNU bug tracking system
Copyright (C) 1999 Darren O. Benham, 1997,2003 nCipher Corporation Ltd, 1994-97 Ian Jackson.