The Modernization of Emacs: terminology buffer and keybinding

[David Kastrup]

Twisted <twisted0n3 at gmail.com> writes:

> That's entirely orthogonal to the issue of interface learning curve
> OR interface ease-of-use. Emacs has deficiencies in both areas, if
> principally the former. (For an example of the latter, consider
> opening a file. Can't remember the exact spelling and capitalization
> of the file name? Sorry, bud, you're SOL. Go find it in some other
> app and memorize the name, then return to emacs. Now THAT is what I
> call disruptive context switching.

Again, you are talking nonsense out of ignorance.  When you are _not_
using filename completion, any case entry on a case insensitive file
system will work (even when we are talking about a FAT/NT file system
mounted on Unix).  And _when_ you are using filename completion, on
_those_ systems where case insensitive file names are standard
(DOS/Windows/VMS/MacOSX), Emacs will notice and replace stuff with the
proper case _when completing_ (in all other cases, there is no problem
in mixing up case in the context of case insensitive file systems).

If you want a different standard than that of your operating system,
customize the variable `read-file-name-completion-ignore-case'.

It would probably be most clever if Emacs completed case-independently
only on those parts of a file name which are on a case-independent
file system (or a case independent context) so that a file name like

/dak at box.gnu.org:/media/usbstick/Photos/nice.jpg
     ~~~~~~~~~~~                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

would get case-insensitive completion just on the underlines areas.
In practice, it is actually more the users than the operating systems
which are or are not comfortable with the consequences of case
sensitivity, and so making the default depend on the default
convention of the system seems reasonable.

So please: before you continue spewing about a system you don't even
know, could you educate yourself about the state of affairs?

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum