GNU bug report logs - #5841
23.1.95; bad mouse bindings for Info mode line node name

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Message #13 received at 5841 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: "'Chong Yidong'" <cyd <at> stupidchicken.com>
Cc: 5841 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: RE: 23.1.95; bad mouse bindings for Info mode line node name
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2010 08:41:59 -0700

> > When you click the mouse on the current node name in Info, 
> > these are the bindings:
> >
> > mouse-1: Info-mouse-scroll-up
> > mouse-3: Info-mouse-scroll-down
> >
> > Those should be reversed. The leftmost of the two buttons 
> > used for this should move backward. The rightmost should
> > move forward.
> 
> No.  There is a reason for this binding: it's much more common to
> advance through a document, so mouse-1 is used for it. (Let's not
> get into a long argument over this.)

There is a reason for almost everything. But not necessarily a good reason.

Why is mouse-1 significantly better than mouse-3 for a much-more-common
operation?

That either button is better than mouse-2 I could understand, since some people
don't even have a mouse-2 or use a wheel button for it, which is sometimes less
handy. But mouse-1 has no great advantage over mouse-3. Neither is hard to use.

And the "more common use" reason is anyway a very weak one. It is more common to
do neither, and many users will forget which is which. When they do occasionally
try one they shouldn't have to backtrack because it was ill-designed. It is more
important that the buttons correspond to what one would naturally expect.

Left stands for left; right stands for right. Couldn't be more obvious and
expected. It is simply perverse to have the left button move right and the right
button move left.

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