GNU bug report logs - #8220
24.0.50; (On Windows XP) "c:\_emacs" isn't found during startup

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Message #31 received at 8220-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams <at> oracle.com>
To: "'Eli Zaretskii'" <eliz <at> gnu.org>, "'Juanma Barranquero'" <lekktu <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 8220-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org, dmoncayo <at> gmail.com
Subject: RE: bug#8220: 24.0.50;
	(On Windows XP) "c:\_emacs" isn't found during startup
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 08:40:02 -0800

> > > And _emacs is a longstanding, positive feature, not 
> > > something that should be removed.
> > 
> > Not according to the docs, which clearly say that it is "for
> > compatibility with older versions of Emacs".
> 
> Actually, it's for compatibility with older versions of _Windows_,

So there is a doc bug, anyway.

> and, more importantly, for helping users migrate from DOS (which
> simply doesn't allow file names that begin with a period).  That
> migration is all over by now; whoever still uses DOS will never go to
> Windows on the same machine.  So it's time to deprecate that old
> feature, which makes documentation harder and Emacs operation
> trickier.

That was the reason for _introducing_ support for `_emacs'.  It does not at all
follow that when that reason is no longer pertinent we should _deprecate_
support for `_emacs'.

It is very common in many types of evolution that an entity comes into being for
one reason but becomes co-opted and kept for other reasons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_(biology)

IMO `_emacs' is just as good a default name as `.emacs', if not better.  One
could just as well argue that `.emacs' should be desupported.

Certainly `.emacs' has the special property on some OS's that it is a hidden
file.  That special property can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.  And
it is a platform-specific special property.  And just creating `.emacs' on some
platforms (e.g. Windows) invariably prompts user questions - how to do so is a
FAQ, even if the answer is simple.

`_emacs' has no such special property on any platform AFAIK.  Similarly, that
can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Just one user's opinion: Keep support for `_emacs' as a default init-file name;
and extend it to any platforms where it is not already supported.

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