Subject: Re: bug#68369: [BUG] Unexpected behaviour with Rmail starting from message #22

From: Richard Stallman <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2024 22:37:56 -0500

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  > > It is not a matter of explanation -- rather, is there a way to
  > > modify the feature a tiny bit such that its meaning will be evident.

  > Sorry, I still don't think I follow.  What kind of changes in the
  > feature you had in mind that would make its meaning evident?

I don't have any specific ideas for that feature.  I'm suggesting that
other people look for interface ideas to make this more self-explanatory.
Maybe we will find one.  If not, well will still have the option of
trying to explain it better.

If we don't find one, we will still have the option of documenting it
better.

Our usual first response to any wish for an interface to be clearer is
to write documentation, and for wishing for it to be more featureful,
is to add optional features.  However, I learned over the years that
it was always good to try to design a feature to be more self-evident.
When I tried this, sometimes I succeeded.  The result was a simpler
program which could do more without more options or more documentation.

So it is always good to think for a while about ways to do that,
before resorting to the less elegant approach.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)