Subject: bug#51929: 27.2; "Save this mail sending choice?" has no effect

From: Drew Adams <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2021 21:25:12 +0000

This seems to be a regression introduced in Emacs 27.

emacs -Q

At least with emacs -Q, answering `y' to this prompt has no effect.  The
choice you make is not saved persistently.

If it can't be saved persistently because emacs -Q is being used, then
either (1) the question shouldn't be posed or (2) after answering `y',
Emacs should tell you that it can't save the setting after all.
Obviously #1 is far preferable.

In any case, what we have now is quite misleading: we ask you, "Hey, do
you want to save that choice?" and then we ignore your answer.  We don't
even confirm the choice (whether y or n), letting you know that, OK,
your choice `y' (or `n') is (or isn't) being saved.

Yes, it appears that if you submit a second bug report in the same
emacs -Q session, and if you answered `y' for the first report, then you
won't be asked how to send the second one.  Wunderbar.  But in that case
"saved" is still misleading, but just in a different way: the choice is
remembered for the duration of the session.

And if we're going to bother to "save" your choice for that, why don't
we also save (for the same session) the more obvious choice, which is
your email address?  We don't even ask about saving that, and we don't
save it.  If you submit a second bug report in the same emacs -Q session
you once again get the ridiculous "... tickle..." pseudo address.  You
once again have to edit that, the same way you did for each earlier
report in the session.  A needless, user-unfriendly chore.

The Q&A for submitting a bug report has changed over & over, over the
years.  And it seems like each time someone "improves" something about
this dialog, yet more bugs are introduced in it.  The emacs -Q dialog,
in particular, should be working by now.  It's been how many decades?
(I'm hoping that an attempt to fix this latest minor bug won't result
in more damage.)

In GNU Emacs 27.2 (build 1, x86_64-w64-mingw32)
 of 2021-03-26 built on CIRROCUMULUS
Repository revision: deef5efafb70f4b171265b896505b92b6eef24e6
Repository branch: HEAD
Windowing system distributor 'Microsoft Corp.', version 10.0.19042
System Description: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (v10.0.2009.19042.1288)