GNU bug report logs - #9248
Don't show splash screen when running "emacs <file>" by default

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From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
To: Noam Postavsky <npostavs <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 9248 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#9248: 23.2; Welcome screen
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2020 10:50:05 +0100

Noam Postavsky <npostavs <at> gmail.com> writes:

>> When I run "emacs -Q foobar", it only shows the contents on foobar,
>> and not the splash screen.
>
> -Q skips the splash screen, try -q instead.

Right, there it is.

I agree that this should be changed.  I expect a splash screen to be
shown only when I run a command without specifying any particular
file.  IME, this is what most other software does, and I see no reason
why Emacs should be different.

There is very important political information on that screen about
user freedom, GNU and the FSF.  Yes.  But this way of showing it to
users is too intrusive.  We win the fight against proprietary software
also by providing the best possible user experience.

Of course, this is easy to configure if you know what you're doing.
However, I think it gets to be an annoyance for beginning users well
before they even figure out how to do that.

---

Here's one data point:

I remember being frustrated by this when I first started using Emacs
15+ years ago.  It took me some time to figure out that you could turn
it off.  Weeks?  Months?  No idea.  Long enough that I still remember
it now.  Even after you start customizing Emacs, this is not
necessarily the first thing you think about configuring.  At least it
wasn't for me.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas

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