

Proposed delete behavior changes in Emacs - gcv
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu-emacs/2011-09/msg00000.html

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gcv
My response to the poll:

* I oppose the proposed change of deleting the entire region on a single delete command.

* I feel fairly strongly about this (4 on a 1-5 scale).

* I have been using Emacs for 15 years.

This behavior is unhelpful for three reasons.

First, unless transient-mark-mode is turned on, it is often not obvious that
an active region exists in Emacs. I can press C-SPC and then forget that I did
so and move the cursor. In that case, pressing delete will trash the
unhighlighted active region, which will surprise and irritate me.

Second, Emacs already has a default keybinding for killing the active region:
C-w. Emacs users learn this shortcut quickly and it becomes second nature.
There is no missing functionality for removing the contents of a region in
Emacs.

Third, existing Emacs users have muscle memory for the default behavior. Most
of us have learned to switch from Emacs to native-OS behaviors during text
editing. There is no need to break a behavior we internalized about the way
Emacs works.

I also strongly oppose the "further change" about inserting characters
deleting the active region.

PS: These changes may be acceptable if they are limited to transient-mark-
mode, but even so, I am not entirely convinced.

